Brazil Olympic coach Rogerio Micale described star forward Neymar as a "monster" who is too often criticized after he led the team to a 6-0 thrashing of Honduras on Wednesday, which ensured the host will be in Friday's gold-medal match.

Neymar scored twice, including the fastest goal in Olympic history after just 15 seconds, as Brazil delighted a near-capacity 78,000 crowd at the Maracana stadium to move to within one win of delivering a first-ever soccer gold medal.

"Neymar is a monster. He has the gift of playing soccer, he delights everyone with his talent," Micale said.