Beijing 2008 Football Round-Up

Filed under: 2008 Beijing Olympics by: geordieman

Thursday marked the start of the Men’s Football in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and throughout the Games we will be giving reports of the action in the Men’s Football competition.

As the Olympics are being held in Beijing, there is a 7 hour time difference between the UK and China, thus making viewing awkward for many supporters with matches being at 1700 and 1945 in Beijing time but at 0900 and 1245 back in the UK.

In the early kick-off for Group A, Australia faced Serbia and it ended in a 1-1 draw. Australia took the lead in the 69th minute with Zadkovich and the lead was short-lived, lasting only nine minutes with Rajković getting Serbia’s equaliser. The attendance for this game was 36,184 at the Shanghai Stadium, although the capacity is 65,000. For two of the less glamourous sides this was a decent crowd. The second game in Group A was also at the Shanghai Stadium and it was between the two bigger teams in the group; reigning Gold medallists Argentina and the Côte d’Ivoire. Fans that watched this game were treated to a fabulous game, that was end to end for the majority, despite it being hot and humid. As half-time approached, the deadlock was broken by none other than Lionel Messi, who was given permission to play the night before. He latched onto an inch-perfect pass from Riquelme. The lead lasted only 8 minutes after half-time as Côte d’Ivoire pushed the Argentinians the whole way, and the equaliser was scored by Sekou Cissé with a well-placed header. However, in the 86th minute, Messi was involved again with a goal, but providing the assist for Lautaro Acosta to give them the 2-1 win. Over 43000 people turned out for the second game, a very impressive crowd considering the Opening Ceremony is on Friday.

Group B pitted Japan against the USA and the Netherlands against Nigeria. The USA won 1-0 with a goal by Stuart Holden and the second game was a goalless draw. Attendance were very high at 57000 for the first game and 52000 for the second game. Fans of the Netherlands will be disappointed with the result, as they are one of the favourites for the Gold Medal.

Group C brought Brazil and Belgium together as well as the hosts China against New Zealand. Brazil struggled to break down the resolute Belgian side. With a starting line-up that included Marcelo, Anderson, Lucas, Pato, Ronaldinho and Diego, it was expected that the Belgians would be blown away by their opponents. However, they held their own until the 79th minute when Hernanes scored for the Brazilians. The Belgians did end the game with 9 men after Vincent Kompany was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 72nd minute and Merouane Fellaini for the same reason in the 88th minute. The second game was expected to be a win for the hosts, as the support of their fans would be intimidating for their Kiwi counterparts. However, Jeremy Brockie of New Zealand took the lead in the 53rd minute and it wasn’t until the 88th minute that the hero of the hour, Dong Fangzhuo of Manchester United scored to avoid the hosts from being humiliated.

The final group; Group D had Italy face huge underdogs Honduras and South Korea against Cameroon. Italy won convincingly by 3-0 with goals from Giovinco, Rossi and Acquafresca. The game between South Korea and Cameroon was a 1-1 draw with Park Chu-Young taking the lead for Korea Republic in the 68th minute and Mandjeck equalising in the 81st minute.

Also, one thing to add, the German referee of the Côte d’Ivoire and Argentina game should be applauded for booking Salomon Kalou for diving. Lately, it has come to attention that less players are being booked for diving either because the referees want to keep the flow of the game or that they are concentrating too much on dissent. It was a welcome sight to see a player that did blatantly dive be cautioned due to this.

The tables for the Groups after the first round of matches in the Preliminary Group Stage are as follows:

Group A