|
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
No slip-ups so far Brazil, Italy on course but Nigeria or Chile loom
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) -- Brazil and Italy remain on course for the widely predicted Olympic men's soccer final, yet the winner could well come from Saturday's quarterfinal between Chile and Nigeria. Wanderley Luxemburgo's Brazilians meet Cameroon at Brisbane on Saturday, while Marco Tardelli's Italy faces Spain at Sydney Football Stadium. The other quarterfinal is the United States against Japan at Adelaide, but the odds are that the gold medallist will eventually come from one of the other three games. The way the semifinals pan out, it can't be an all-South American or all-African final. Provided they win on Saturday, Chile and Brazil would meet in the semifinal. If they both lost, Nigeria and Cameroon would meet at Melbourne on Tuesday. Chile vs. Nigeria Chile has never won the Olympic title, and what better way than to knock out the reigning champions who beat South American soccer giants Brazil and Argentina on the way to winning the gold four years ago. Led by four goals from 33-year-old Inter Milan striker Ivan Zamorano, who was a late call-up to the roster after Marcelo Salas decided not to play, Chile cruised past Morocco (4-1) and Spain (3-1) in the group games of Sydney 2000, and its 1-0 slipup against South Korea happened with the team almost certain to make the quarters anyway. Nigeria's route to the last eight was a lot tougher. Jo Bonfrere's team, which faces Chile without suspended Celestine Babayaro of Chelsea and Azubike Oliseh of Dutch club Utrecht, had to score two late goals to salvage a 3-3 tie with modest Honduras, gained a 3-2 victory over an Australian team that lost all three of its games and tied 1-1 with Italy. Yet Bonfrere knows that his team gets stronger and more confident with each game. Back in 1996, it lost its group game to Brazil and finished second in its group but then knocked out a previously unbeaten Mexican team in the quarters, the Brazilians in the semifinal and then made history as the first African nation to win an Olympic team gold by beating Argentina in the final. Its suspect defense dares not give Zamarano any room in the penalty area, while Chile should beware of the speed of Nigerian striker Pius Ikedia. Brazil vs. Cameroon The Brazilians, also searching for their first Olympic title, won't have the suspended Edu, while Jean-Paul Akono's Indomitable Lions are at full strength with no suspension or injury worries. Brazil has been far short of its best, losing 3-1 to South Africa in the group games. Star striker Ronaldinho, who has been substituted twice, has not shown anywhere near top form. The loss of Edu, who has been playing well, could be a major loss to Luxemburgo's team while its defense will be tested by the speed and power of Parma striker Patrick M'boma. But Brazil is overdue a really big performance, and the prospect of facing Chile or avenging the 1996 semifinal loss to Nigeria should be motivation enough for Ronaldinho, Alex, Athirson and Co. to produce their best. Italy vs. Spain Roberto Baronio is suspended, but the Italians, gunning for their first Olympic title since 1936, welcome back key players Alessandro Grandoni and Gennaro Gattuso to defense and midfield against a Spanish team whose goalkeeper Felip also sits out the game through suspension. This is unlikely to be a high scoring game and there should be a tough midfield battle with Serie A stars such as Massimo Ambrosini and Gattuso (both AC Milan) and Gianluca Zambrotto of Juventus against Barcelona's Gabri and Xavi. But the key player could be Inter Milan's Andrea Pirlo. Although he had a comparatively quiet game against the Nigerians, as Italy's playmaker, he should be the man to unlock the Spanish defense. Spain won the title eight years ago at Barcelona. United States vs. Japan Neither team has any players missing through suspension, and the United States, which has reached the last eight for the first time, is gaining in confidence as the tournament goes on. Clive Charles' team is unbeaten and scored a 3-1 victory over Kuwait in its final game. Forwards Josh Wolff and Conor Casey along with midfielder/forward Chris Albright hope to shake up a suspect Japan defense. The Japanese, with AS Roma's Hidetoshi Nakata orchestrating the midfield, have plenty of talent going forward and fast, elusive strikers in Naohiro Takahara and Atsushi Yanagisawa. They are likely to give the American defenders a tough time.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
