Argentina deserved winners

Messi guides Argentina to Olympic title. Argentina defeated Nigeria 1-0 in the final. Angel Di Maria scored the winner in the 58th minute. Nigeria should be happy with the silver medal. They played gloriously to loose in the final. In my blog dated July 12, 2008, “Olympic Football 2008: Argentina and Nigeria are favorites”, I mentioned that these two teams are favorites. I am happy that it matched.

Argentina is the deserved winners. They played beautifully in the whole tournament. Nigeria started slowly but in the knockout stage they were superb. Argentina mesmerizes Brazil in the semifinal and Nigeria did the same thing with Belgium. Brazil played very poorly in the semifinal.

Brazil though defeated Belgium 3-0 to finish third they do not deserved a place in the final. I think we had a final between the best two teams. This is Argentina’s second Olympic title. They won these consecutive in 2004 and 2008. Great Britain (1908 and 1912) and Hungary (1964 and 1968) achieve the same feat. Yugoslovia is the only team who played 4 consecutive finals from 1948 to 1960. But they won only in 1960. Hungary played three consecutive finals from 1964 to 1972.

Match of the titans

What a mouth watering semifinal we are going to have in the semifinal. Argentina vs Brazil or Ronaldinho vs Messi. Whatever you say football will be the winner. Both the teams required extra time to defeat their opponents. Defending champion Argentina rode on Messi to defeat Netherland 2-1. Brazil defeated former champion Cameroon 2-0. They avenged their defeat at the hands of Cameroon at Sydney Olympics in 2000. Messi was brilliant in the other game. Netherland fought their heart out but still could not save the game.

Italy the most impressive team in the group stages were stunned by Belgium. They played with 10 men for most of the game but still managed to win the thriller 3-2. They came from behind twice. They will meet 1996 champion Nigeria. Nigeria easily defeated Côte d'Ivoire 2-0. Both the semifinals will be thrilling to watch.

Big Guns Firing

Ronaldinho started his comeback. He enthralled the Chinese crowd with two goals. Brazil defeated New Zealand 5-0 to enter the quarterfinals. This is Brazil’s second consecutive win. Pato, Anderson and Sobis are the other scorer. Belgium defeated China 2-0 to keep their hopes alive.

Argentina and Italy also enter the quarterfinal. Argentina defeated Australia 1-0 to register their second win in as many matches. In another group A match Côte d'Ivoire defeated Serbia 4-2 in a thrilling match.

Italy registered another fluent victory. They crushed Korea 3-0. This is their second 3-0 victory in group D match. Cameroon scrapes past Honduras 1-0 in another group D match.

Nigeria defeated Japan 2-1 in a group B match. Netherlands scored in a last minute to hold USA 2-2. USA and Nigeria are leading the group with 4 points. Netherland with 2 points is also in the fray for a quarterfinal berth.

Brazil, Italy and Argentina started with a Win

Brazil struggled to beat 9 men Belgium in their opening match in group C. Hernanes scored a magnificent goal in the 79th minute for Brazil. Brazil struggled for most of the part of the match. In another match of group C host China drew 1-1 with New Zealand.

Messi was the star for Argentina. He helped Argentina to register 2-1 win over brilliant Ivory Coast in group A. Messi scored a goal and also assist the second. Australia drew with Serbia 1-1.

USA defeated Japan 1-0 in their opening match. Italy registered a easy 3-0 win over Honduras. Cameroon drew 1-1 with Korea and Nigeria drew 0-0 with Netherlands.

CAS Ruling

I am very disappointed with CAS ruling. According to me a player should give more priority for his country than club. I do not understand why one should not be playing as he likes.

Olympic Football 2008: Argentina and Nigeria are favorites

Argentina Hot Favorite

In my last article, I have written will Brazil win the elusive Olympic gold medal. They are taking a strong team no doubt. Now let us discuss about the prospect of other teams. Last time gold medalist Argentina is hot favorite. They have won the under-20 FIFA World cup in 2005 and 2007. They are bringing their U-20 stars along with Messi to challenge other teams. Argentina is placed in Group A along with Côte d'Ivoire, Australia and Serbia. They will face little challenge on their way to second round. They may face Netherlands or Nigeria in quarterfinal. There is mouth watering match can be a possible in semi final, Brazil vs Argentina. If it happens Olympic football will reach dizzy height with stars like Messi, Robinho and Ronaldinho will play.

African Challenge

Recently Africa teams are doing very well in Olympic football. Cameroon, Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire will lead the African challenge. Nigeria which won the Under-17 2007 World cup will be another favorite. Nigeria should qualify for quarterfinal from group B. Their main challenger will be Netherlands. USA and Japan can cause few upsets here. Cameroon is placed in group D having Italy as the main challenger. Honduras and Korea are the other team. Côte d'Ivoire has to beat Australia and Serbia to qualify from this group along with Argentina.

European Challenge

Spain is the last European country to win gold medal in 1992. I doubt Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Serbia will emulate Spain in this year tournament. Netherlands won bronze medal in 1908, 1912, and 1920. Italy won gold medal in 1936, and bronze in 1928 and 2004.

Kick off

The tournament starts on 7th Aug’08 with eight matches. We have two very interesting match. Argentina will meet Côte d'Ivoire and Nigeria will face Netherlands. In other notable matches Brazil meets Belgium, Cameroon meets Korea Republic, and Italy meets Honduras. So from the first day the tournament will be in top gear. I think teams will follow the attacking football seen in Euro 2008. Argentina , Brazil and Nigeria will lead the pack for attacking football.

Olympic Football 2008: Will Brazil able to win the gold medal?

I thought I will not cover Olympic football in my blog. But after seeing the Brazil team I changed my mind. They are bringing a strong team no doubt. Ronaldinho (I believe Barcelona will leave him), Robinho, Diego will play for Brazil. Brazil wants to win the gold medal by any means. I sometimes failed to understand the mystery a team, winning 5 world cups, failed to win a gold medal. They have to wait until 1984 to win an Olympic medal.

In Olympic South American teams fared very badly. Brazil never won the gold medal. They won the silver in 1984 and in 1988 and bronze medal in 1996. They finished fourth in 1976. Only Uruguay (1928) and Argentina (2004) won gold medal from South America. Hungary is the most successful team in the Olympic. They won gold medal in 1952, 1964, and 1968, silver medal in 1972 and bronze in 1960. Of late African teams have done well in Olympic football. Cameroon won gold in 2000 and Nigeria in 1996. Germany like Brazil also failed to win Gold medal. East German won the gold medal in 1976.

Will Brazil win the gold medal? They are in Group C along with Belgium, China and New Zealand. Brazil should go through the next round. Watch this column for more update …..