In case you missed it, Brazil officially qualified for the men’s soccer tournament at this summer’s Tokyo Olympics after a lengthy CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament campaign that briefly looked like it was going to blow up in our faces. After a strong start in the first group stage, where we won all four games and played some very nice football, we could only draw our first two games in the four-team final round, leaving us needing a win against Argentina, to that point the only team to have won all their games, to secure qualification for the Olympics. But despite shaky performances in our previous two games, we stepped up when it mattered (and perhaps Argentina, having already secured their place in Tokyo, took it a bit easy), and we produced a stellar, completely dominant performance in a 3-0 win that could’ve been twice that big.

There’s plenty of reason to celebrate. Coach André Jardine has done a good job with this team, getting them to play attractive, winning football despite never being sure which players he’d have available (clubs aren’t obligated to release players for U-23 games), and his hard work has paid off with a trip to Tokyo. Matheus Henrique and new Lyon signing Bruno Guimarães formed a midfield duo that holds great promise for Brazil’s future. Matheus Cunha and Paulinho, both benchwarmers for their clubs, showed how good they can be when given playing time. Reinier Jesus, who only turned 18 on the day of Brazil’s first game in the competition, didn’t look at all out of place at U-23 level.

But it’s been close to a week, so now it’s time for stage 2 of the fun: baseless fantasy!

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