| "> | | | | Olympic Games in Berlin. This European country is well |
| Great Britain did not qualify for the 2008 Olympic | | | | known for its great tradition in soccer. |
| Games in Beijing. It won three Olympic titles: Paris 1900, | | | | Brazil will have both its soccer teams (women and |
| London 1908 and Stockholm 1912. In 2012, Great Britain | | | | men) at Beijing 2008. |
| will serve as organizer of the Olympic Games. | | | | South Korea will in China to participate in the Olympics. |
| The Brazilian Olympic football team will go to Beijing | | | | It competed in the Olympic Football Tournament 7 |
| looking forward the first gold medal. This team will no | | | | times. |
| doubt be the nucleus of the nation's squad for the | | | | Nigeria is one of the favourites to win the men's |
| 2014 FIFA World Cup. Brazil did not compete in the | | | | Olympic Soccer tournament. The national team won |
| Olympic football tournament 13 times: Paris 1900, Saint | | | | the gold medal at the Centennial Olympic Games in |
| Louis 1904, London 1908, Stockholm 1912, Antwerp | | | | Atlanta, USA. Nigeria defeated Argentina 3-2 and won |
| 1920, Paris 1924, Amsterdam 1928, Berlin 1936, London | | | | the Olympic title for the first time. This African country |
| 1948, Melbourne 1956, Moscow 1980, Barcelona 1992, | | | | received an invitation to play in the Olympics in 1980 in |
| Athens 2004. | | | | Moscow (USSR/ currently Russia). Sunnie Ephraim |
| From 1952 to 2004, Hungary has won 5 Olympic | | | | (journalist from Lagos) says: "Qualifying for the Games |
| medals, including 3 golds. It has more gold medals than | | | | is one thing; doing well and winning the gold medal as |
| Brazil (3), Argentina (3) and Nigeria (1). | | | | seen in Atlanta, United States 11 years ago is different |
| The Honduran men's national team will travel to Beijing | | | | ball game altogether. |
| to attend the Olympics. Honduras will make its first | | | | Argentina is one of the hot favorites for the Olympic |
| appearance in the Peoples Republic of China. | | | | title. Why? This Latin American country won the FIFA |
| Tegucigalpa does not have full diplomatic relations with | | | | U-20 World Cup in 2007(for the second time in a row). |
| Beijing. Honduras won the 2008 CONCACAF Olympic | | | | Argentina also won the gold medal at the 2004 |
| Qualification Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee | | | | Olympic Games in Athens (Greece). Final standings: |
| (USA). This Central American country surprised the | | | | 1.Argentina, 2.Paraguay, 3.Italy, 4.Iraq, 5.Mali, 6.South |
| world with its triumph... | | | | Korea, 7.Australia, 8.Costa Rica. The Argentine team |
| Belgium has had famous football players: Wilfried van | | | | won four matches in the group "C" |
| Moer, Raoul Lambert, Ruddy Smidts, Marc Emers, | | | | (Serbia-Montenegro 6-0, Tunisia 2-0, Australia 1-0). In |
| Danny Boffin, Marc Degryse and Marc Wilmost. In | | | | the quarterfinals, Argentina defeating Costa Rica 4-0. In |
| 1920, Belgium won the Olympic title. | | | | the semifinals, Argentina beat Italy 3-0 and went on to |
| Cote d'Ivoire -also known as Ivory Coast- qualified for | | | | win the final against Paraguay 1-0. The Olympic |
| the 2008 Olympics. This African team representing | | | | champions were Mariano Gonzales, Luciano Figueroa, |
| Africa at the 2006 FIFA World Championships in | | | | Javier Saviola, German Lux, Wilfredo Caballero, |
| Germany. It is one of the best teams in Africa. "We | | | | Roberto Ayala, Fabricio Coloccini, Gabriel Heinze, |
| are one of the few African countries to have an | | | | Clemente Rodríguez, Leandro Fernandez, |
| organized youth league. Great players have always | | | | Javier Mascherano, Cristian Gonzalez, Nicolas Medina, |
| come out of the Ivory Coast; I'm thinking of Laurent | | | | Cesar Delgado, Carlos Tevez, Mauro Rosales. |
| Pokou in the 1970s; and Youssou Fofana in the 1980s. | | | | Soccer/ football was first featured at the 1900 |
| But now the footballing infrastructure is much better | | | | Olympic Games.There were nine different champions |
| and so many youngsters are getting the right | | | | in the last nine Olympic Games: Poland (Munich 1972), |
| coaching", said Henri Michel (former coach of the Cote | | | | East Germany (Montreal 1976), Czechoslovakia |
| d'Ivoire national soccer team). Ivory Coast won the | | | | (Moscow 1980), France (Los Angeles 1984), USSR |
| African Cup of Nations in 1992. | | | | (Seoul 1988), Spain (Barcelona 1992), Nigeria (Atlanta |
| Argentina has famous coaches: Cesar Luis Menotti, | | | | 1996) and Argentina (Athens 2004). |
| Carlos Salvador Bilardo, Daniel Passarella, Ramon Diaz, | | | | The 1976 Olympic Soccer Tournament were attended |
| Jose Peckerman, Marcelo Bielsa... | | | | by 13 nations: North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Guatemala, |
| The Serbian men's national team will travel to Beijing | | | | Israel, France, Mexico, Canada, Spain, Brazil, USSR/ |
| for its first Olympics. Football is the most popular sport | | | | Soviet Union, Poland and East Germany. Surprisingly, |
| in Serbia (formerly Serbia & Montenegro). | | | | Uruguay -it was replaced by Cuba- did not participate |
| Mexico did not qualify for the 2008 Olympics. It | | | | in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Zambia, Nigeria and |
| competed in the Olympic Soccer Tournament 8 times: | | | | Nigeria had withdrawn from the Olympics, due to |
| London 1948, Tokyo 1964, Mexico City 1968, Munich | | | | participation of New Zealand. |
| 1972, Montreal 1976, Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, | | | | In the Beijing 2008 Olympic Football Tournament 16 |
| Athens 2004. | | | | men's teams will compete in four groups: |
| The People's Republic of China made its debut at the | | | | Group "A": Argentina (South America/ winner of the |
| 1988 Summer Olympic Games in South Korea... | | | | previous edition), Cote d'Ivoire (Africa), Australia |
| Argentina -FIFA 1978 world champion and junior world | | | | (Oceania), Serbia (Europe). |
| champion- boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in | | | | Group "B": Holland (Europe), Nigeria (Africa), Japan |
| Moscow. It had won the South American Olympic | | | | (Asia), USA. |
| Football Qualification Tournament. Argentina was | | | | Group "C": China (host country), New Zealand |
| replaced by Venezuela. | | | | (Oceania), Brazil (South America), Belgium (Europe). |
| The Italians are Europe's best hope of reaching the | | | | Group "D": South Korea (Asia), Cameroon (Africa), |
| finals. Italy won the gold medal at the 1936 Summer | | | | Honduras (Central America), Italy (Europe). |