For much of the men's Olympic soccer tournament, the focus has been on Argentine star Lionel Messi, and given his undeniable skill on the ball, much of that attention is deserved. But history has shown countless times that one-man teams don't win tournaments, and this was proven once again in Saturday's final, with Angel di Maria's goal giving Argentina a 1-0 victory over a game Nigeria side. Click to continue reading...

Argentina beat Nigeria 1-0 to capture the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic games. Argentina was my pick, and the favorite of many to win the gold at these Olympic games, and they didn't disappoint.  Angel di Maria scored for Argentina in the 58th minute off a great through ball from Lionel Messi. Messi wasn't able to score in the game, but was key to every attacking chance Argentina had in the game Click to continue reading...

Four years ago it was Carlos Tevez, on Saturday Benfica's Angel Di María secured his place in Argentine football history by becoming the second man to score a gold medal-winning goal for his country in the Olympic Football Tournament. In a final played in scorching heat in the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing, Argentina rode [. Click to continue reading...

Four years after the gold in Athens, another 1-0 scoreline confirmed Argentina as Olympic football champions. In 2004, the match-winning goal had been scored by a certain Carlos Tevez; this year in Beijing, salvation came from above. "Little Angel" Di María flapped his celestial wings and delivered a fatal blow to finalists Nigeria, exploiting an [. Click to continue reading...

Argentine national coach Alfio Basile called up his 23 men to face Peru and Paraguay in September. There were two surprises on this list as Internacional´s Andrés D´Alessandro and Porto's Ángel Di Maria were called up for duty. This left out Benfica midfielder Pablo Aimar and Inter striker Hernán Crespo. Click to continue reading...

Arjantin finalde Nijerya'yı yenerek altın madalyanın sahibi oldu. İki ülke 1996 olimpiyat finalinde de karşılaşmış o yıl altını, rakibini 3-2 ile geçen Afrika ülkesi kazanmıştı. Maçın tek golü Benfikalı Angel Di Maria'dan geldi. Atina 2004'de de altın alan Arjantin üst üste iki olimpiyatta da şampiyon olmayı başardı. Click to continue reading...

The man of the past 24 hours within the Argentine national team was Ángel Di Maria. He was being inquired about by Real Madrid and then Barcelona but he quickly quashed any speculation as he mentioned that he would remain with Benfica. That would not lead him to to let down as the biggest [...] Click to continue reading...

Why not? I was late to my computer, but no one has scored yet.


Ambruse Vanzekin (G)
2 Chibuzor Okonkwo (D)
4 Onyekachi Apam (D)
5 Dele Adeleye (D)
13 Adefemi Olubayo (D)
8 Sani Kaita (M)
12 Ajilore Oluwafemi (M)
10 Isaac Promise (F)
9 Victor Nsofor Obinna (F)
11 Solomon Okoronkwo (F)
14 Peter Osaze Odemwingie

Argentina

18 Sergio Romero (G)
2 Ezequiel Garay (D)
3 Luciano Fabian Monzon (D)
4 Pablo Zabaleta (D)
12 Nicolas Pareja (D)
5 Fernando Gago (M)
10 Juan Riquelme (M)
14 Javier Mascherano (M)
11 Angel Di Maria (F)
15 Lionel Messi (F)
16 Sergio Leonel Aguero (F)

15 - Nigeria isn't backing down. Click to continue reading...

In a couple of hours' time, Argentina will be going for a second gold medal of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games when the men's football team take on Nigeria, their conquerors in Atlanta 1996, in the OFT final. Argentina are seeking to defend their title, having demolished arch-rivals Brazil 3-0 in the semi, with Liverpool [. Click to continue reading...

Apparently the standard of English football, despite the travesty of the national team, is not going down. It is going up. The evidence is there for all to see. No fewer than 17 of the 20 nominees on UEFA's list for Club Footballer of the Year are based in the English Premier League. Furthermore, seven nominees are English, making England the best represented nation on the shortlist, ahead of Spain (five). Click to continue reading...

Nigeria squares off against Argentina in Saturday's Olympic gold medal final and while the game is a repeat of the 1996 gold medal match that Nigeria won 3-2, can the Super Eagles' offense deal with Lionel Messi and the Albicelestes this time around?

Argentina are favored after their 3-0 destruction of Brazil in the semi-finals. Click to continue reading...

Fernando Torres, Pepe Reina, Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard have been shortlisted for this year's UEFA European Club Footballer of the Year award.

Seventeen of the 25 nominees play in the Barclays Premier League, a reflection of the fact three English teams reached last season's Champions League semi-finals. Click to continue reading...

Every year UEFA nominates the best players in club football in Europe with the final awards presented on the eve of the end-of-August UEFA Super Cup. Last year we saw AC Milan's Kaka, Maldini and Seedorf take the plaudits with Petr Cech rounding off the four and in the process denying Milan a clean sweep. Click to continue reading...

This is just dumb, according to this article on ESPN Soccernet, Thierry Henry will be playing a wide left position this upcoming season for Barcelona. I think Pep Guardiola needs to realize that Henry is a center-forward, not a left winger. Maybe next Lionel Messi should play right back so that he can get the ball further back and make deeper runs. Click to continue reading...

The Olympics effectively end for me Friday evening with the Gold medal game between Nigeria and Argentina so click on the photo above (Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images) for some more beauties from the opening ceremonies like this one.

What about the game? Here are some highlights I've found on the web

SHANGHAI, China (AP) - The players that won Nigeria its first gold medal in soccer at the Atlanta Games have become legends in their homeland.

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Just like a sheet of paper from a page-a-day-calendar, Argentina ripped Brazil out of the stack, crunched it up, made a little paper ball, did a few juggles and then backheeled it into the trash. Everyone was anticipating this game as the final-before-the final in these 2008 Beijing Football Olympics, and boy did we not [. Click to continue reading...

Argentina defeated Brazil 3-0 in the Olympic semifinals to earn a trip to the gold medal game against Nigeria. Sergio Aguero scored 2 goals, and Riquelme added a penalty to give Argentina a seemingly easy win. This game was the first victory for Argentina against Brazil since 2005. Many people wanted to see a Messi vs. Click to continue reading...

Sergio Aguero confirmed his status as one of the world's greatest talents when he sent Argentina through to the Olympic final in a 3-0 triumph at the expense of Brazil. Dunga's team were uninspiring for much of the semi-final but the convincing defeat ended their hopes of landing their maiden gold medal in the men's football at the Olympics. Click to continue reading...

The Olympic football has pretty much flown under the radar in the UK until today, with the powerhouses of Brazil, Argentina, Nigeria and, er.... Belgium all in action. Contrary to popular perception, players in the Olympics don't have to be amateur any more, but each team is only allowed to have 3 players over 23 in the squad, therefore creating a very youthful tournament. Click to continue reading...

Team manager Foppe de Haan admitted it. During the quarter finals yesterday between Holland and Argentina at times he really enjoyed Lionel Messi's game. "Yeah, that's a type of player we just don't have," he sighed. Oranje lost 1-2 against Argentina in added extra time. De Haan was a bit sick Click to continue reading...

Soccer billboard in Beijing
Originally uploaded by eugene La semifinal que todo mundo esperaba Argentina - Brasil se ha dado.

Argentina 2 - Holland 1 AET (Olympics quarter-final, August 16, 2008) Diego Maradona fue a ver a Lionel Messi el petizo jugador le dio la delantera a los pero en el 36th los holandeses empataron con un magistral tiro de Otman Bakkal,
Angel Di Maria anoto el de la victoria. Click to continue reading...

Argentina advanced to the semi-finals of the Olympic Football Tournament in China on Saturday, after beating the Netherlands 2-1 after extra time in Shanghai. Barcelona star Lionel Messi was the key man for an Argentine side who found it hard, at times, to get out of first gear, but who still created more good chances [. Click to continue reading...

According to the latest news in the London Times, Chelsea are planning to make a world record signing of Kaka from A.C. Milan. To me thats Kaka. With the amount of money they are going to spend on 1 player who may still be in his prime, but also is nearing the end of it, they could be rebuilding the entire squad for the multiple campaigns that they have to mount in England and Europe. Click to continue reading...

While we lament the loss of the Nigerian Super Falcons in the Women's Olympic football tournament, praise must be heaped on the African men, who all swept into the quarterfinals of the men's Olympic tournament.

One thing we know for sure is that Africa will be represented in the semi-finals, as Nigeria take on Ivory Coast in the last eight. Click to continue reading...

I've decided to start a monthly power ranking, where I will rank the current top 10 teams in the world, and the top 10 players in the world.  For the club teams, I will take into account the clubs place in the league standings, the level of competition in the league, and success in international and domestic tournaments. Click to continue reading...