鹦鹉 - 2008-8-19 9:55:00
Tuesday will see a heavyweight encounter between two of the best football teams in the world, Brazil and defending champion Argentina.Argentina's brilliant performance at Athens 2004 had won them a gold medal. On the contrary, five-time World Cup champion Brazil, "the kingdom of football", has yet to claim an Olympic medal to match its status as the world's biggest football powerhouse. This embarrassing situation will motivate the Brazilian team to fight hard for Olympic glory.
This match is attractive also in that it features two of the biggest names in the tournament: Ronaldinho of Brazil and Lionel Messi of Argentina.
"Brazil have a lot of respect for Argentina and we respect them too," Argentine Sergio Batista said, adding, "I hope we can see an open match. Both teams have players with enough quality to make a beautiful match."
Another semifinal is between two Olympic champions: Belgium and Nigeria. As the Antwerp 1920 Olympic football champion, Belgium made a stunning comeback after 80 years' absence from the Olympic football competition by upsetting favorite Italy 3-2 in the quarterfinal.
Nigeria, the Atlanta 1996 Olympic champion, is never short of gifted footballers. Having performed impressively in the tournament, the African Eagle will take off to rebuild its Olympic glory. But the team's typically unstable performance on the international football scene adds to the uncertainty of the match's outcome.