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Brazil celebrates - Source: Reuters -
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A Brazilian masterclass has ended the Oly Whites' participation at the London Olympics.
The Samba kings, led by 20-year-old striker Neymar and with Real Madrid's Marcelo pulling the strings in midfield, overwhelmed New Zealand 3-0 at St James' Park in Newcastle.
The Oly Whites needed to beat Brazil to have any chance of emulating their female counterparts and making the quarter-finals.
Brazil had already qualified for the last eight and rested some of their players for the match.
Neymar, rumoured to be bound for a top European club, caused havoc early on, and had one goal ruled out for offside and was off-target with two other efforts as defenders struggled to contain him.
Some slick interplay created the first goal in the 23rd minute for Danilo before more sumptious passing, including a backheel drag from Marcelo, created a second six minutes later for Leandro Damiao.
Winger Marco Rojas had the best chance of the half for the Oly Whites after his own trickery created some space to force a save from Gabriel in the Brazil goal.
Tottenham midfielder Sandro added a third after a free kick found him unmarked at the far post and despite having Alex Sandro dismissed with 14 minutes left for diving inside the penalty area their defence was rarely troubled.
Brazil won the group with nine points from three matches, while New Zealand exited with one point from a 1-1 draw with Egypt.