2008 Men’s Olympic Football Quarter-Final Line Up
August 13, 2008
And just like that, the group stage of the 2008 Men’s Olympic Football tournament is over.
The quarter-finals look like this:
Nigeria vs Cote d’Ivoire
Italy vs Belgium
(winners play each other)
Argentina vs Netherlands
Brazil vs Cameroon
(winners play each other)
All matches on August 16th.
Highlights from the final round of group games below (USA fans look away now.)
Argentina 2-0 Serbia - Group A
The albiceleste bear Siberia 2-0 to top Group A with three wins out of three. Angel Di Maria will be embarrassed with his missed pen, but Diego Buonanotte has a nice free kick to add to his highlight reel.
Cote d’Ivoire 1-0 Australia - Group A
Salamon Kalou banged one into the top right corner to give the Ivorians a 1-0 win, and a place in the quarterfinals.
Nigeria 2-1 USA - Group B
The USA paid for their disciplinary problems in this one. Already shorn of the suspended Michael Bradley and Freddy Adu and in need of a result against Nigeria, they lost left back Michael Orozco in the third minute to a foolish elbow. Goals from Isaac Promise and Obinna Nsofor put Nigeria top of Group B, while an 88th minute Sacha Kljestan penalty was all the US had to show for the days work.
Netherlands 1-0 Japan - Group B
Following his dramatic last minute free kick equalizer on Sunday, Gerald Sibon had more bad news for the USA this morning. His penalty giving the Netherlands a 1-0 win over Japan, so one more point than the USA and a place in the last eight.
Belgium 1-0 New Zealand - Group C
This Faris Haroun header was enough to secure second place in Group C for Belgium. Maybe Hamburg will let Vincent Kompany stick around a little longer now?
Brazil 3-0 China - Group C
Ronaldinho put Diego through for the first, and Thiago Neves added two more (a free kick and a blink and you’ll miss it low shot) to make it three-nil and three out of three for Brazil. It still made Bruno sleepy though.
Italy 0-0 Cameroon - Group D
These two shared a goalless draw that put them both through. Italy finished top, Cameroon second.
South Korea 1-0 Honduras - Group D
Kim Dong-Jin scored a great goal with his right foot - apparently - to give Korea a 1-0 win. But Italy and Cameroon’s goalless draw meant Korea never had a shot at making the quarters. Honduras go home three defeats and CONCACAF is left thinking that Mexico would have represented the region a lot better.
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Ronaldinho is Back! Men’s Olympic Football Matchday Two Round-Up
August 11, 2008
Olympic football videos are getting harder to come by, but that doesn’t mean I’m about to give up. Not when it’s just starting to get interesting.
‘Dinho himself is showing some form (as is Pato, Anderson and the rest of the Brazil team), Argentina are getting it done, and Italy are absolutely on fire (in a good way) in Group D.
Argentina 1-0 Australia - Group A
Argentina left it late-ish again, but a nice move with Riquelme at the heart of it was eventually finished (emphatically) by Ezequiel Lavezzi in the 76th minute. And Argentina say hallo to the quarters.
Cote d’Ivoire 4-2 Serbia - Group A
There’s no video with all six goals, but you can see all six separate vids on one page over at TVGolo. I’ve chosen my favourite (above) as Salomon Kalou’s fpr Cote d’Ivoire. Love the turn and quick one-two with Gervinho.
USA 2-2 Netherlands - Group B
Don’t be fooled by the above video. While the US did indeed come from one Ryan Babel goal down to take a 2-1 lead through Sacha Kljestan (great through ball slash nutmeg from Freddy Adu) and Jozy Altidore (off the bench to poach a goal like a proper striker), Netherlands made it 2-2 with a late Gerald Sibon free kick. USA WCB is not happy, but still a decent result.
Nigeria 2-1 Japan - Group B
No video to show you, sorry kids. But I have it from high authority that Nigeria won 2-1 with goals from Victor Obinna and Victor Anichebe. Which means Nigeria’s game against the USA will be do or die for both teams (both on four points) and that Japan (with zero points) aren’t out yet, but are pretty much f*cked. Asian teams have done surprisingly badly in Beijing so far.
Brazil 5-0 New Zealand - Group C
OK, so it was only against an inexperienced New Zealand side, but Ronaldinho scored twice (one free kick and one from the spot) and apparently pulled the strings as Brazil ran out 5-0 winners. Now if only New Zealand’s U-23 team played in Serie A…
Belgium 2-0 China - Group C
Moussa Dembele and Kevin Mirallas gave Belgium a 2-0 win, while China had two men sent off. The hosts now need a result against Brazil in the final group game to avoid an early exit. Good luck with that.
Italy 3-0 S Korea - Group D
Goals from Tommaso Rocchi, Giuseppe Rossi and Riccardo Montolivo gave Italy another 3-0 win and a place in the quarters. That’s six goals in two games now and the Azzurrini are looking dangerous.
Cameroon 1-0 Honduras - Group D
Apparently it was all Cameroon, but they didn’t get the winner until the 74th when Stephane Mbia blasted one with his right foot. Honduras are down and out, but Cameroon can still go through with a result against Italy, depending on what Korea do against Honduras.
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Argentina could pay high price for Messi deal
August 10, 2008
Argentina could yet pay a heavy price for the deal which has allowed Lionel Messi to play at the Olympic Games.
A lengthy tug-of-war with Barcelona for Messi’s services ended with the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling that Barcelona were not obliged to release him for the Olympics.
However, with Messi already in China and having made it clear his heart was in the Olympics, Barcelona relented and said he could play — provided certain conditions were met.
One was that the Argentina Football Association (AFA) would effectively pay Messi’s wages while he is in China — costly but not unaffordable.
Another was that Argentina would not pick Messi for any friendly internationals in the next year, and that is where the AFA’s coffers could be hit hard.
The arrangement of friendly matches is one of the sport’s most lucrative growth industries.
The likes of Brazil and Argentina are paid handsomely for taking their national teams overseas but the entrepreneurs who arrange the games usually demand the presence of all the top players before they cough up.
Argentina may have plenty of other exciting players such as Carlos Tevez, Juan Roman Riquelme, Sergio Aguero and Fernando Gago, but Messi is the one the fans really want to see.
Without him, Argentina’s appearance fee will likely suffer a considerable knockdown.
Still, at least his presence is working for the team on the pitch. He was the driving force again on Sunday as Argentina beat Australia 1-0 to seal their place in the quarter-finals.
PHOTO: Messi pictured during Argentina’s Group A match against Australia at the Olympic Games in Shanghai, August 10, 2008. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci
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2008 Men’s Olympic Soccer Tournament Matchday One Roundup
August 8, 2008
The odd thing about the Olympic football tournament is that all the games seem to happen at once, rather than being spread out evenly as in other tournaments.
There are reasons for this, obviously, and for once they’re nothing to do with Sepp Blatter or the Court of Arbitration for Sport. I assume it’s basically because there’s much going on - including the parallel women’s soccer tournament - that the hosts need the venues for other events.
Can’t argue with that, but the upshot is nearly a weeks worth of tournament football in one Olympic evening. Which is quite a lot to take in.
I’ve done my best to put together a round up of all the action below, with video where possible (and assuming the ones I’ve posted haven’t been taken down by the overzealous authorities.) So read on for all the results and (hopefully) some video.
Australia 1-1 Serbia - Group A
Ruben Zadkovich and his dodgy faux hawk (are those things still fashionable somewhere?) gave the Olyroos the lead from a narrow angle, but young Chelsea defender Slobodan Rajkovic equalized for Serbia with a 78th minute header. Obviously Australia didn’t read our 20 Players to Watch post yesterday.
Argentina 2-1 Cote d’Ivoire - Group A
Leo Messi struck first for Argentina, running on to a beauty of a through ball from Juan Roman Riquelme. Sekou Cisse equalized with an impressively powerful early second half header, but Lautaro Acosta by getting to the rebound of a Leo Messi shot.
Japan 0-1 USA - Group B
Looks like Japan had a couple of chances to take the lead, and maybe a shout at a late penalty. But Stuart Holden’s goal after a good run down the right from Marvel Wynne was enough for a US win.
Not a great performance, but our USA bloggers will take it.
Netherlands 0-0 Nigeria - Group B
The two potential medalists failed to produce any goals, which is lucky because I failed to find any video of the game. The Dutch apparently had Roysten Drenthe, Ryan Babel, Jonathan de Guzman and Roy Makaay all on the field at once but failed to score.
Brazil 1-0 Belgium - Group C
Brazil left it late, but in the 79th minute São Paulo midfielder Hernanes scored this fantastic goal for a 1-0 win. Ronaldinho wore the captain’s armband but didn’t make a huge impact, though he made a threatening dribble down the left and had a free kick on target.
Belgian captain Vincent Kompany was apparently having a great game before being sent off for a second booking. And three minutes after Kompany got his marching orders, Hernenaes scored. Belgium also had Merouane Fellaini sent off towards the end to finish with nine men.
As Bruno says on Brazil Offside “Dunga’s ass was saved for the day, thanks to Hernanes and the ref.”
China 1-1 New Zealand - Group C
Jeremy Brockie broke the hosts offside trap for this great near post strike…
… but Man Utd benchwarmer Dong Fangzhuo came off the Chinese pine to equalize with a great header.
Honours even then, but these two could easily be the Group C whipping boys.
Honduras 0-3 Italy - Group D
Someone in Italy must be keen to keep 21 year old Sebastian Giovonco under wraps, because this video was a bitch to find. The tiny (seriously) Juventus pulled all the strings for Italy, including scoring an absolute beauty with his left foot to make it 1-0 Penalties from Giuseppe Rossi and Acquafresca made the final score 3-0.
Reaction from the Italy blog here.
South Korea 1-1 Cameroon - Group D
Park Chu Young put Korea ahead with this free kick, that seemed to evade everyone and everything but the bottom right corner of the goal.
But Georges Mandjeck equalize for Cameroon in the 81st minute with this strike.
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Spain may bid for 2018 World Cup
July 18, 2008
MADRID (AFP) - Spain may compete with England to stage the 2018 World Cup, Spanish media said Thursday, a day after a meeting of the country’s football federation.
The head of the federation, Angel Maria Villar, suggested Spain’s candidature during the meeting, and was backed by Secretary of State for Sport Jaime Lissavetzky as well as the president of Barcelona football club, Joan Laporta.
The next World Cups are to take place in South Africa in 2010 and in Brazil in 2014.
Only England has so far announced its candidature for 2018. But Belgium and The Netherlands have shown interest in a joint bid, and Russia, Australia and the United States have also been mentioned.
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