AUSTRALIAS FOOTBALL SQUAD

Coach:
Graham Arnold, 45

Goalkeepers:
Adam Federici (23) (Reading, England)
Tando Velaphi (21) (Perth Glory)

Defenders:
Adrian Leijer (22) (Fulham, England)
Trent McClenahan (23) (unattached)
Mark Milligan (23) (unattached)
Jade North (26) (Newcastle Jets)
Mathew Spiranovic (20) (FC Nurnberg, Germany)
Nikolai Topor-Stanley (23) (Perth Glory)
Ruben Zadkovich (23) (Derby County, England)

Midfielders:
David Carney (24) (Sheffield United, England)
Billy Celeski (22) (Melbourne Victory)
Neil Kilkenny (23) (Leeds United, England)
Stuart Musialik (23) (Sydney FC)
Kristian Sarkies (21) (Adelaide United)
James Troisi (20) (unattached)

Strikers:
Mark Bridge (22) (Sydney FC)
Nikita Rukavytsya (21) (Perth Glory)
Archie Thompson (29) (Melbourne Victory)

Australia are in Group A alongside Argentina, Ivory Coast and Serbia, making for a tough Olympic campaign. With Argentina expected to go through to the knockout stages and Australia with very little experience / quality in their squad, it seems that this team might just make up the numbers in Beijing as opposed to making waves.

BRAZIL FOOTBALL SQUAD

Brazil have named a strong squad for their 08 Olympic campaign as they aim to win a title that has eluded them so far.

Brazil’s Olympic Football squad for Beijing 2008:

Coach:
Dunga, 44

Goalkeepers:
Diego (23) (Almeira, Spain)
Renan (23) (Internacional)

Defenders:
Alex Silva (23) (Sao Paulo)
Breno (18) (Bayern Munich, Germany)
Thiago Silva (23) (Fluminese)
Ilsinho (22) (Shakhtar Donetsk, Ukraine)
Rafinha (22) (Schalke 04, Germany)
Marcelo (20) (Real Madrid, Spain)

Midfielders:
Anderson (20) (Manchester United, England)
Diego (23) (Werder Bremen, Germany)
Hernanes (23) (Sao Paulo)
Lucas (21) (Liverpool, England)
Ronaldinho (28) (Barcelona, Spain)
Thiago Neves (23) (Fluminese)

Strikers:
Alexandre Pato (18) (AC Milan, Italy)
Jo (21) (Manchester City, England)
Rafael Sobis (23) (Real Betis, Spain)
Robinho (24) (Real Madrid, Spain)

As you can see, Brazil have named an experinced squad with several players aged 22 and 23. The younger ones are usually sensational stars on their own (Anderson, Jo, Lucas, Breno) and in Diego, Ronaldinho and Robinho they have three excellent attacking players who will be able to ply open the inexperienced defenders at the Olympics with ease.

Even if one or two of these players don’t make it to the Olympics (due to club-FIFA squabbling), the squad is quite strong and in an easy group (Group C has Brazil, China, Belgium and New Zealand).

GROUP D

Korea Republic - Wildcards in this group - have the potential to qualify and are physically fit enough to deal with Cameroon’s challenge as well. Should be an interesting contest.

Cameroon - Along with Korea they will be aiming to get a win over Italy and cause an upset. It might come down to the overage players they pick because at the U-23 level they’re not that strong.

Honduras - Unlike New Zealand who had Oceania to themselves, Honduras had to finish ahead of Mexico to qualify for the Olympics. However, they lack the firepower to challenge any of their rivals in this group.

Italy - Italy beat Portugal in a play-off to get here, and have an excellent squad based almost entirely in Italy (the exception being Rossi at Villareal). They have the talent to top their group but their lack of experience could count against them in the later stages of the tournament.

ITALY FOOTBALL SQUAD

Italy are, along with Argentina and Brazil, one of the favourites to win a medal in the Olympic Football tournament this year. Italy Olympic Football squad for Beijing 2008:

Coach:
Pierluigi Casiraghi

Goalkeepers:
Andrea Consigli (21) (Atalanta)
Emiliano Viviano (22) (Brescia)
Salvatore Sirigu (21) (Cremonese)

Defenders:
Salvatore Bocchetti (21) (Genoa)
Andrea Coda (23) (Udinese)
Domenico Criscito (21) (Genoa)
Paolo De Ceglie (21) (Juventus)
Lorenzo De Silvestri (20) (Lazio)
Marco Motta (22) (Udinese)
Andrea Ranocchia (20) (Arezzo)

Midfielders:
Ignazio Abate (21) (AC Milan)
Luca Cigarini (22) (Parma)
Daniele Dessena (21) (Parma)
Claudio Marchisio (22) (Juventus)
Riccardo Montolivo (23) (Fiorentina)
Antonio Nocerino (23) (Palermo)
Andrea Russotto (20) (Trevisio)
Antonio Candreva (21) (Udinese)

Strikers:
Robert Acquafresca (20) (Cagliari)
Sebastian Giovinco (21) (Juventus)
Tommaso Rocchi (30) (Lazio)
Giuseppe Rossi (21) (Villareal, Spain)

Italy have a young but talented squad and are placed in Group D with the Korea Republic, Cameroon and Honduras with them. Should qualify without too much trouble, especially with the likes of Giovinco and Rossi in the team.

ARGENTINA FOOTBALL SQUAD

2004 Olympic football champions Argentina will defend their gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympics with the following squad:

Coach
Sergio Batista, 45, Under-23 Coach

Goalkeepers:
Oscar Ustari (22) (Getafe, Spain)
Sergio Romero (21) (AZ Alkmaar, Netherlands)

Defenders:
Pablo Zabaleta (23) (Espanyol, Spain)
Ezequiel Garay (21) (Real Madrid, Spain)
Federico Fazio (21) (Sevilla, Spain)
Nicolás Burdisso (24) (Internazionale, Italy)
Luciano Monzón (21) (Boca Juniors)

Midfielders:
Fernando Gago (22) (Real Madrid)
Ever Banega (20) (Valencia, Spain)
Javier Mascherano (24) (Liverpool, England)
Juan Román Riquelme (30) (Boca Juniors)
Angel Di María (20) (Benfica, Portugal)
José Sosa (23) (Bayern Munich, Germany)
Diego Buonanotte (20) (River Plate)

Forwards:
Lionel Messi (21) (Barcelona, Spain)
Ezequiel Lavezzi (23) (Napoli, Italy)
Lautaro Acosta (20) (Sevilla, Spain)
Sergio Agüero (20) (Atlético de Madrid, Spain)

Reserves:
Nicolás Navarro (Napoli, goalkeeper)
Nicolás Pareja (Anderlecht, Belgium, defender)
Lucas Biglia (Anderlecht, midfielder)
Emiliano Insúa (Liverpool, midfielder)

The reserves won’t travel but can be called up prior to the start of the tournament in case a squad member is injured. Argentina will play against Japan in a friendly on 29th July in Tokyo before traveling to Beijing.

GROUP C

China - The hosts are in a tough group - no one expects to beat Brazil and China will have Belgium to contend with as well. They’re on par with New Zealand but could use the occasion and national pride to spring a surprise.

New Zealand - Without Australia to contend with, New Zealand had an easy path to qualification for the Olympics but will have to fight for respect or suffer a drubbing at the hands of Brazil and Belgium.

Brazil - They’ve selected a talented and experienced squad and should top this group easily.

Belgium Have a good youth program and based on skill-level alone are a superior side to China or NZ. Don’t see them getting a medal but they could give Brazil a run for their money in this group.

GROUP B

Netherlands - Consecutive U21 Euro champions and perhaps the strongest team from Europe playing here. Tipped to win the Olympics this year but for my money are on an equal footing with Brazil and Argentina.

Nigeria A decent outfit but without the talent that the national team has at senior level. It remains to be seen who they pick for the tournament as their overage players but they’ll need to be at their best to progress from this group.

Japan - On paper look to be the weakest team of the group but have traditionally been strong on teamwork and if they can keep their discipline against the likes of Nigeria and USA, they have an outside chance of reaching the knockout stages.

USA - The Olympics are an excellent chance for the US to prove that their youth development is not as pathetic and downtrodded as critics claim it to be. They have the raw talent and if they can harness it, a spot in the knockout stages awaits.

GROUP A

Ivory Coast - Have the energy and talent to upset the bigger sides in this group and if they can defend in shape and maintain their tactical discipline then they may well qualify from this group.

Argentina - One of the strongest teams in the world and a veritable production line of footballing talent going from Argentina to Europe. Experienced and supremely talented and led by the indomitable Riquelme, Argentina are many people’s pick to defend their Olympic good won 4 years ago.

Australia - One of the weaker teams in the competition and the squad picked shows a real lack of experience at the Under-23 level. In the toughest group and unlikely to progress.

Serbia - Did quite well at the U-21 Euros and have a talented and disciplined youth team that should qualify for the knockout stages as long as they overcome the Ivory Coast.

SOCCER

Group A

Argentina
Australia
Ivory Coast
Serbia

Group B

Japan
Netherlands
Nigeria
USA

Group C

Belgium
Brazil
China
New Zealand

Group D

Cameroon
Honduras
Italy
Korea Republic

ABOUT SOCCER

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games kick off in a month, with the 2008 Olympic football tournament from 6th to 24th August.

For these games, the men will compete in a 16-team tournament (7th to 24th August) (the women will compete in a 12-team tournament - 6th to 21st August) with four groups of four teams each with the top two in each group progressing to the knockout stages.

Full national teams ceased to compete in the four-yearly competition in 1930 when the first World Cup was played in Uruguay. Since then, youth teams have competed in the men’s tournament and despite with the absence of senior players (men’s teams are allowed to augment their squad with three players over the age of 23) the tournament has proved to be quite entertaining over the years.