Beijing Olympic Games

Updated: 2007-06-19 From: Xinhuanet

Nigeria’s U-23 female team on Sunday defeated Algeria 6-0 in an Olympics 2008 qualifier decided in Abuja.

After suffering a 1-0 defeat in Algiers, Nigeria came out strong scoring two goals in the first half and four in the second.

Pepetua Nwocha scored three of the goals while Ifeayin Chiejine scored two an Rita Chikelu scored one.

Coach Jossy Lad was elated after the encounter and he said the players would do better in subsequent games.

Local media reported that the scores could have been 8-1 if Ghanaian referee, Togoe Quarcoom, had not disallowed two goals for Nigeria and one for the Algerians.

Nigeria’s next opponent in the series is South Africa, as coach Jossy Lad said he would take each game as it came, while the Algerian coach, Azzedin Chih, said his girls were still in the learning process of the African women game and wished Nigeria well in their march to the Beijing Olympic soccer race.

Updated: 2007-06-18 From: Xinhuanet

LAGOS, June 17 (Xinhua) — Prime Football Club of Osogbo regained their form in their second match at the ongoing round of 16 of this year’s Coca-Cola FA Cup with a 1-0 victory over hard-fighting Sharks of Port Harcourt at the Calabar center.

Also, the defending champion Dolphins FC of Port Harcourt recorded a 2-0 victory over pro-league side, Gabros International of Nnewi, in northeast Nigeria’s Kano on Saturday.

Speaking on his team’s triumph over Sharks, Coach Samson Unanel of Prime described the victory as a good one as they missed lots of chances in the game. He added that his boys had to put up a good fight against Sharks to earn a penalty kick, which was squandered by his player.

The coach expressed confidence over his team’s qualification, saying the win against Sharks would definitely spur his boys to win their last game against Ocean Boys of Yenogoa.

For Dolphins’ safe-hands, Chijioke Ejiogu, Saturday’s victory was the tonic his colleague needed to advance to the next stage of the championship.

Second half goals from Wobo Uwazuoke and Bola Bello were all coach Ifeanyi Onyedika-tutored side needed to beat Gabros.

Ejiogu, who has won the title twice with Dolphins, said he was ready to lift the cup once again with the team.

“I think I will be happy lifting the trophy once more having won the cup with Julius Berger and Dolphins, I believe this year will not be an exception. We deserve the victory against Gabros because we were the better side in the game.

Meanwhile, heavy downpour forced the postponement of matches at the Ilorin Center. The matches that will hold Sunday will see new league champion. Enyimba is supposed to face Nasarawa United while Rangers, which is yet to get over their Super Four flop confronts Lobi Stars.

Updated: 2008-07-30

Natasha Kai, Shannon Boxx, Christie Rampone, Heather O’Reilly (from left to right)

(BEIJING, July 30)– Defending Olympic Women’s Football champions the United States completed their final Beijing 2008 warm up match by drawing 0-0 against host China.

The US team, who were also silver medalists in Sydney 2000 and won the inaugural women’s Olympic football tournament at Atlanta in 1996, had been in China a week ahead of this final preparation game, and got down to serious training after brief visits to two of Beijing’s most prominent historical sites, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, where the steep steps are no less exhausting than a tough workout.

Helena Anderson, the team’s Swedish fitness coach said: “We have reserved enough energy for the Olympics, so we are to do mostly tactical training in the few days left before the Games”.

Anderson is one of a team of specialists brought in by her compatriot head coach Pia Sundhage, who took charge of the United States team last November when she replaced Greg Ryan as head coach after the team finished a disappointing third at the 2007 World Cup.

The US World Cup campaign ended in disappointment when they were hammered 4-0 by eventual runner-up Brazil in the semifinal.

Pia Sundhage, head coach

However Sunghage has been revamped things and proved successful so far. Her team is unbeaten during her nine-month reign, including a 1-0 win against her homeland Sweden, three consecutive 1-0 victories against Brazil and tournaments triumphs at the Algarve Cup in Portugal in March and their Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCAF)Olympic Qualifying competition in April.

However the 48-year-old who was assistant coach of the China women’s national team for the 2007 World Cup, knows the demands of the post.

“I was told what the expectations were when I was interviewed - a medal at the minimum. I have been in football long enough to know that if we don’t reach the final I will probably be out of the job.”

Sunhage has refreshed the US team by ditching their former direct style of play in preference to a more purist passing vision. “I have got them playing the ball forward through the midfield,” revealed the Swedish coach. “It is challenging and it requires patience to work openings but they have embraced the change really well.”

Christie Rampone, captain of the US women’s football team

It is an approach which has the thumbs-up of the US players: “It is definitely more fun,’ said team captain, Christie Rampone, who will compete in her third Olympic Games in Beijing.

“Pia has brought passion and energy to the team. We are a lot more confident about playing football now. We are scoring more goals and the team is enjoying the things that she and the other members of the coaching staff have introduced.”

Hope Solo, goalkeeper

First-choice goalkeeper Hope Solo, who has played professionally in Europe, also likes Sundhage’s style: “Pia wants to be a winner. She wants us to be the best team in the world and to play the best football too, and that is great for us. But there is no room for complacency.”

However the US team will have to compete without striker Abby Wambach, who broke her left leg in a warm up match against Brazil. “We are missing a few players due to injury. It is disappointing but that is always the way with football,” said Sundhage.

The US face Norway, Japan and New Zealand in their group stage of Beijing 2008 and will contest their first two games in Qinhuangdao and their third match in Shenyang.

“Norway will definitely be a tough match to start with,” confessed 35-year-old Rampone, even though the US has recorded two 4-0’s win over them this year – the most recent on July 2.

Sundhage believes Germany, Brazil, Sweden, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Norway will be the teams to beat in Beijing.

Updated: 2008-07-30

(BEIJING, July 30) — The Chinese and Serbian men’s Olympic football squads played out a goalless draw on Tuesday, July 29 at the Nanling Stadium in Changchun, the capital city of Northeast China’s Jilin province.

The first half was a boring affair. Serbia’s several offensive forays were fruitless, while China struggled to launch an attack on goal. In the 29th minute, Serbia’s Slobodan Rajković created the best scoring opportunity for Serbia in the first half, with a shot from the box ricocheting from the bar.

China rallied and both teams exchanged offensive forays in the second half. In the 24th minute, China was ruled offside after having lobbed the ball behind Serbia’s defensive line. Five minutes later, Rajković latched onto a corner kick, but his shot hit the bar again. The scoreboard remained unchanged as the match ended at 0-0.

China’s captain Zheng Zhi received a yellow card 12 minutes into the second half after tackling Nikola Gulan from behind. Zheng, the playmaker of the Chinese team, was later substituted.

” China’s forward line lacks cooperation and the lack of a killer punch has always been our shortcoming,” said Yin Tiesheng, the coach of China. “We are now physically prepared and in the last few days we will try to do better in tactics and strategies.”

At the Olympics, China will play Brazil, New Zealand and Belgium in Group C, while Serbia will take on defending champion Argentina, as well as Australia and Cote d’Ivoire.

Updated: 2008-07-29

(BEIJING, July 29) — Brazil romped to a 3-0 victory over Singapore in an exhibition match on Monday, July 28 at Singapore’s National Stadium.

Brazil’s supremacy was quite obvious in the first half, dominating possession and controlling the pace of the game.

Brazil took the lead at the 20-minute mark, when Diego hit the back of the net after receiving a delicate flick from Ronaldinho.

Seven minutes later Ronaldinho took advantage of a defensive blunder and scored from close range to make it 2-0.

Singapore rallied and tried to fight back in the second half, with John Wilkinson’s volley narrowly missing the net. However, it was Brazil’s substitute Jo who scored the last goal of the match, sealing the victory for Brazil with a header.

Singapore benefited during injury time when Brazil was reduced to ten after Alex Silva received a red card, but the deficit was unsurpassable.

Ronaldinho put in an impressive performance, playing the entire 90 minutes and being involved in two of the three goals scored.

The trip to Singapore was part of Brazil’s two-stop acclimatization tour in the lead up to Beijing 2008. The team’s next stop is Hanoi, where Brazil will play a friendly against Vietnam’s national side on August 1.

Updated: 2008-07-28

(BEIJING, July 28) — With the Beijing Olympic football tournament on the horizon, the coach of the Japanese men’s team Yasuharu Sorimachi recently expressed his confidence over his team’s chances of winning an Olympic medal this summer.

“I’ve chosen the strongest players available, with the aim of winning at the Olympics.” Sorimachi was quoted as saying by Fifa.com.

There are quite a few prominent players on Sorimachi’s roster, including the “Japanese Chilavert” Shusaku Nishikawa, so named because he is a goalkeeper who is also a dead ball specialist like the former goalkeeper of Paraguay José Luis Chilavert. Other players to watch will be defender Atsuto Uchida and forward Takayuki Morimoto.

Japan will play a warm-up match against Argentina before they head to Beijing, where its group opponents will be the United States, Nigeria and the Netherlands.

Updated: 2008-07-28

(BEIJING, July 28) — The Dutch Olympic men’s football team will playagainst Côte D’Ivoire, Cameroon and the United States in a four-team competition in Hong Kong, which will serve as a final warm-up before the Olympic football tournament in Beijing.

The Netherlands will play two matches in the competition, against Cameroon and Côte D’Ivoire on July 30 and August 2. The two African teams will also compete at the Olympics. Since Cameroon won the gold medal at Sydney 2000 and Côte D’Ivoire is regarded as the strongest of the three African qualifiers, the two matches in Hong Kong will be a rigorous test of the Netherlands’ medal credentials.

For a nation with such a proud history of football, the Netherlands has never performed well at the Olympics. Beijing 2008 will be the first time the Netherlands has participated in the men’s tournament since 1952. In 1992, they nearly earned a spot in the Barcelona Olympics, but were knocked out by Australia in an inter-confederation play-off.

However, it will be dangerous for any team to underestimate the capability of the Netherlands. Its road to Olympic qualification was assured when it won the 2007 European Under-21 Championship by defeating Serbia 4-1 in the final. The Netherlands’ 21-year-old forward Royston Drenthe was decorated as the Player of the Tournament.

Other key players in the Dutch Olympic team will be Ryan Babel, the left winger from Liverpool who scored 10 goals in his 49 appearances this season, and Hedwiges Maduro from Valencia, who participated in the 2006 FIFA World Cup and the 2007 European Under-21 Championship.

“It’s exciting to be in Hong Kong as we’re getting closer to the Olympics and I expect to be fully match fit by then,” Babel told reporters after the team arrived in Hong Kong on Sunday July 27.

For the Olympic tournament, the Netherlands has been grouped with Nigeria, Japan and the United States. The Netherlands’ first match will be against Nigeria in Tianjin on August 7.