The Olympics Thread

[AJ]

Thought it was time to start a thread on the Olypmics football tournement

[edit] Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Côte d'Ivoire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Argentina	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Australia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Serbia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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2008-08-07 17:00	Australia	v	Serbia	Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai

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2008-08-07 19:45	Côte d'Ivoire	v	Argentina	Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai

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2008-08-10 17:00	Argentina	v	Australia	Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai

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2008-08-10 19:45	Serbia	v	Côte d'Ivoire	Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai

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2008-08-13 19:45	Côte d'Ivoire	v	Australia	Tianjin Olympic Centre Stadium, Tianjin

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2008-08-13 19:45	Argentina	v	Serbia	Beijing Workers' Stadium, Beijing

[edit] Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Netherlands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Nigeria	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Japan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
USA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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2008-08-07 17:00	Japan	v	USA	Tianjin Olympic Centre Stadium, Tianjin

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2008-08-07 19:45	Netherlands	v	Nigeria	Tianjin Olympic Centre Stadium, Tianjin

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2008-08-10 17:00	Nigeria	v	Japan	Tianjin Olympic Centre Stadium, Tianjin

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2008-08-10 19:45	USA	v	Netherlands	Tianjin Olympic Centre Stadium, Tianjin

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2008-08-13 17:00	Netherlands	v	Japan	Shenyang Olympic Stadium, Shenyang

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2008-08-13 17:00	Nigeria	v	USA	Beijing Workers' Stadium, Beijing

[edit] Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
China PR	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
New Zealand	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Brazil	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Belgium	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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2008-08-07 17:00	Brazil	v	Belgium	Shenyang Olympic Stadium, Shenyang

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2008-08-07 19:45	China PR	v	New Zealand	Shenyang Olympic Stadium, Shenyang

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2008-08-10 17:00	New Zealand	v	Brazil	Shenyang Olympic Stadium, Shenyang

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2008-08-10 19:45	Belgium	v	China PR	Shenyang Olympic Stadium, Shenyang

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2008-08-13 19:45	China PR	v	Brazil	Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, Qinhuangdao

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2008-08-13 19:45	New Zealand	v	Belgium	Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai

[edit] Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Korea Republic	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cameroon	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Honduras	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Italy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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2008-08-07 17:00	Honduras	v	Italy	Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, Qinhuangdao

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2008-08-07 19:45	Korea Republic	v	Cameroon	Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, Qinhuangdao

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2008-08-10 17:00	Cameroon	v	Honduras	Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, Qinhuangdao

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2008-08-10 19:45	Italy	v	Korea Republic	Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, Qinhuangdao

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2008-08-13 17:00	Korea Republic	v	Honduras	Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai

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2008-08-13 17:00

Cameroon

v

Italy

Tianjin Olympic Centre Stadium, Tianjin

[AJ]

The Brazil squad looks seriously strong

Goalkeepers: Diego Alves (Almeria), Renan (Internacional). Defenders: Ilsinho (Shakhtar Donetsk), Rafinha (Shalke), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Alex Silva (Sao Paulo), Breno (Bayern Munich), Thiago Silva (Fluminense).
Midfielders: Anderson (Manchester United), Diego (Werder Bremen); Hernanes (Sao Paulo), Lucas (Liverpool), Ronaldinho (FC Barcelona), Thiago Neves (Fluminense).
Forwards: Alexandre Pato (AC Milan), Jo (Manchester City), Rafael Sobis (Real Betis), Robinho (Real Madrid).

[AJ]

The Italian Squad, has only one over age player

Italy Olympic squad
Ignazio Abate (AC Milan), Robert Acquafresca (Cagliari), Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa), Antonio Cadreva (Udinese), Luca Cigarini (Parma), Andrea Coda (Udinese), Andrea Consigli (Atalanta), Domenico Criscito (Genoa), Paolo De Ceglie (Juventus), Lorenzo De Silvestri (Lazio), Daniele Dessena (Parma), Sebastian Giovinco (Juventus), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Marco Motta (Udinese), Antonio Nocerino (Palermo), Andrea Ranocchia (Arezzo), Tommaso Rocchi (Lazio), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal), Andrea Russotto (Treviso), Salvatore Sirigiu (Citta di Castello), Emiliano Viviano (Brescia)

Dutch Sqaud is also very young, Roy Makaay is thte only established star

Piet Velthuizen (Vitesse), Kenneth Vermeer (Willem II), Ryan Donk (AZ), Henrico Drost (sc Heerenveen), Tom Hiariej (FC Groningen), Kew Jaliens (AZ), Calvin Jong-A-Pin (sc Heerenveen), Christian Kum (ADO Den Haag), Erik Pieters (FC Utrecht), Frank van der Struijk (Willem II), Ron Vlaar (Feyenoord), Gianni Zuiverloon (sc Heerenveen), Wout Brama (FC Twente), Lorenzo Davids (NEC), Urby Emanuelson (Ajax), Siem de Jong (Ajax), Kees Luijckx (AZ), Evander Sno (Celtic), Istvan Bakx (KV Kortrijk), Roy Beerens (sc Heerenveen), Marvin Emnes (Sparta Rotterdam), Jeremain Lens (NEC).
Dirk Marcellis (PSV), Ismaïl Aissati (PSV), Otman Bakkal (PSV), Luigi Bruins (Feyenoord), Jonathan de Guzman (Feyenoord), Hedwiges Maduro (Valencia), Nordin Amrabat (PSV), Roy Makaay (Feyenoord).

Defending Champs Argentina aren't screwing about either

Goalkeepers: Oscar Ustari (Getafe), Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar)
Defenders: Pablo Zabaleta (Espanyol), Luciano Monzon (Boca Juniors), Ezequiel Garay (Real Madrid), Nicolas Burdisso (Inter Milan), Federico Fazio (Sevilla), Lautaro Acosta (Sevilla)
Midfielders: Fernando Gago (Real Madrid), Juan Roman Riquelme (Boca Juniors), Ever Banega (Valencia), Javier Mascherano (Liverpool), Jose Sosa (Bayern Munich)
Forwards: Diego Buonanotte (River Plate), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli), Angel Di Maria (Benfica)

[AJ]

Assuming both Brazil and Argentina win their groups, they will met in the semis.

On the basis of the squads, it's fair to say they are favs, I'd have had Brazil as favs myself

	Argentina	365" onclick="a(0,287909752,9,4,0,15); return false;" onmouseout=cellExit(this);>				3
	Brazil	365" onclick="a(0,287909749,11,4,0,15); return false;" onmouseout=cellExit(this);>				3.75
	Italy	365" onclick="a(0,287909753,13,2,0,15); return false;" onmouseout=cellExit(this);>				7.6
	Netherlands	365" onclick="a(0,287909754,8,1,0,15); return false;" onmouseout=cellExit(this);>				9.2
	Cameroon	365" onclick="a(0,287909755,14,1,0,15); return false;" onmouseout=cellExit(this);>				16.5
	Nigeria	365" onclick="a(0,287909759,20,1,0,15); return false;" onmouseout=cellExit(this);>				22
	Côte d'Ivoire	365" onclick="a(0,287909757,20,1,0,15); return false;" onmouseout=cellExit(this);>				23
	Japan	365" onclick="a(0,287909763,25,1,0,15); return false;" onmouseout=cellExit(this);>				36
	South Korea	365" onclick="a(0,287909765,33,1,0,15); return false;" onmouseout=cellExit(this);>				36
	USA	365" onclick="a(0,287909764,33,1,0,15); return false;" onmouseout=cellExit(this);>				40
	Australia	365" onclick="a(0,287909766,40,1,0,15); return false;" onmouseout=cellExit(this);>				42
	Serbia	365" onclick="a(0,287909756,22,1,0,15); return false;" onmouseout=cellExit(this);>				24
	China	365" onclick="a(0,287909769,50,1,0,15); return false;" onmouseout=cellExit(this);>				55
	Belgium	365" onclick="a(0,287909762,25,1,0,15); return false;" onmouseout=cellExit(this);>				30
	Honduras	365" onclick="a(0,287909771,100,1,0,15); return false;" onmouseout=cellExit(this);>				110
	New Zealand	365" onclick="a(0,287909772,200,1,0,15); return false;" onmouseout=cellExit(this);>				200

[aliando]

whats the deal with the football then?

I assume that the teams have to qualify similar to the world cup? am i right in thinking that you can have a max of 3 over 23's in the squad?

how serious to teams normally take this, given its at the beginning of the season?

[AJ]

Yeah, there was a big qualification process, I'll not bore you with the details as it varies from region to region, think in europe the last 4 from the under 21 champs made it.

No british team can play here for obvious reasons.

Is it serious ? Yeah, players give it their all and want to win, Gabby Hiezne said his olympic gold was very important to him.

Three over 23s are allowed.

Barcalona are trying to stop Ronaldinho from going, although given that he's for sale I'm not sure why

[AJ]

There are some pretty serious mismatches, New Zealands semi professional under 23 team, with Ryan Nelson from blackburn as an overage player versus a team containing

Goalkeepers: Diego Alves (Almeria), Renan (Internacional). Defenders: Ilsinho (Shakhtar Donetsk), Rafinha (Shalke), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Alex Silva (Sao Paulo), Breno (Bayern Munich), Thiago Silva (Fluminense).

Midfielders: Anderson (Manchester United), Diego (Werder Bremen); Hernanes (Sao Paulo), Lucas (Liverpool), Ronaldinho (FC Barcelona), Thiago Neves (Fluminense).

Forwards: Alexandre Pato (AC Milan), Jo (Manchester City), Rafael Sobis (Real Betis), Robinho (Real Madrid).

Expect at least 10 goals