Ahead of Rio 2016, Brasil Global Tour continues its look back at the Selecao's history in the games with a trip to Rome which ended in defeat to the hosts
After falling in the quarter-finals at the Helsinki Olympics in Finland, the Brazilian squad returned eight years later for what would be another failed attempt to bring home gold.
Brazil's 38-year-old Olympian | Brazil's 1952 Olympic campaign
Rome pulled out all the stops to the 1960 games an occasion worthy of the Eternal City, shelling out millions of dollars to ensure the event went smoothly and looked every bit a spectacle worthy of the first that would be broadcast live on television to some 19 countries across Europe.
Since their debut appearance in the Olympics, eight years previously, Brazil had become world champions for the first time as a teenage Pele conquered the globe in Sweden.
Senior team coach Vicente Feola took charge for the games but would have to find a new squad.
With the games still open only to amateurs, the Selecao were once again represented by a young group of players, which included future world champion Gerson.
The great midfielder would go on to write his name in football’s global history as one of the finest ever to grace the game, but at the time of the games most of the focus was on Francisco Castro Gonçalves, or simply Chiquinho, who took a slightly unusual route to Rome.
The 19-year-old was called into the Olympic side after he netted four goals against Brazil for a local team from Minas Gerais.
It was the beginning of a remarkable month for the teenager who never went on to have a professional career.
Come Rome, however, it was Gerson who took centre stage. The midfield maestro netted the opener in a 4-2 victory over Great Britain in Brazil’s opener and then hit a stunning hat-trick in the Selecao’s second match, a 5-0 victory over China.
However, with just one team progressing from the four-team groups that made up the first stage of the tournament that year, a 3-1 defeat to hosts Italy saw Brazil crash out and once again miss out on gold.
Future Milan great Gianni Rivera hit two goals that day to end Gerson’s dream, but the Brazilian would get the better of him 10 years later when the two stood opposite one another at the World Cup final of 1970.
..... - Goal