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34 STORY OF THE TOURNAMENT / VARIOUS PHASES
By Kwok Ka-Ming
FIRST PHASE
Group A
Argentina showed their quality and won all three
matches in Group A to qualify in top spot for the
quarter-fi nals. Despite the close margin of victory
in their three matches, Argentina’s opponents
had little answer to the superb combination play
of Messi (15) and Riquelme (10). The team was
clearly determined to reach the knock-out stages
and defend the gold medal that it won in Athens
four years ago. After losing 2-1 to Argentina, Côte
d’Ivoire produced a magnifi cent display against
Serbia to win 4-2, thanks largely to their marksmen
Kalou (8) and Gervinho (14), who underlined the
team’s attacking prowess. Côte d’Ivoire went on
to overcome the tough Australians in their fi nal
match and consequently progress to the second
stage alongside Argentina. Australia and Serbia
had previously drawn 1-1, but they failed to win
their other matches in the group and thus bade
an early farewell to the Olympics.
Group B
Group B, containing the Netherlands, the USA,
Japan and Nigeria, was wide open until the fi nal
matchday. Nigeria advanced in top spot after
infl icting a 2-1 defeat on the USA in the last
match. The “Golden Eagles” had played out a
goalless draw against Foppe de Haan’s organised
Dutch team in the opening match and defeated
Japan 2-1 thanks to goals from their two Victors
– Obinna and Anichebe. The Netherlands were
unable to win either of their fi rst two outings,
drawing 0-0 and 2-2 with Nigeria and the USA
respectively, and had to go all out for victory in
their last match against Japan, albeit without their
key marksman Makaay (9), who had suffered an
injury in the fi rst match. Fortunately for them,
Babel (11) and Sibon (10) combined to produce
the only goal of a tight contest from the penalty
spot to take them through to the quarter-fi nals.
The USA enjoyed a fi ne 1-0 victory over Japan in
their opening game thanks to a goal by their hardworking
midfi elder Holden (7), and drew 2-2 with
the Netherlands before losing to the Nigerians and
thus bowing out of the tournament. Japan failed
to win a match or a point. Their coach, Yasuharu
Sorimachi, admitted that if his players could not
convert the goal-scoring chances that they created,
they would never win any match.
Group C
Brazil were the hot favourites to advance from
Group C, and they lived up to their pre-tournament
billing by winning all of their matches, scoring 9
goals to no reply and topping their group. Dunga’s
magic cavalry, led by Ronaldinho (10) alongside
Diego (15) and Pato (9) in the striking roles, were
superior to their opponents and showed fi ne
combination play in their group matches to carve
out goals. Belgium, on the other hand, lost out
to the Brazilians by a single goal in their opening
match and had two players sent off for violent
conduct. However, they performed well against
hosts China and kept their qualifying hopes alive by
winning the match with goals from Dembele (18)
and Mirallas (9). New Zealand, who drew 1-1 with
China in their opening match, played with a packed
defence throughout their match against Belgium.
However, the “Red Devils” fi nally scored from a
corner to take them through to the next stage and
send the Kiwis home. China could only manage a
1-1 draw with New Zealand and fell apart against
both Belgium (2-0) and Brazil (3-0), leaving their
enthusiastic fans disappointed.
Group D
Group D featured Italy, Cameroon, Korea
Republic and Honduras. The Italian team boasted