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Iraq, South Americans salvage Olympic tournament
The heroics of Iraq, the brilliance of Argentina and the fierce will of a Paraguay team on a two-fold mission have saved Olympic soccer from slipping off the radar in Athens.
The heroics of Iraq, the brilliance of Argentina and the fierce will of a Paraguay team on a two-fold mission have saved Olympic soccer from slipping off the radar in Athens.
Many games have been played at virtually empty stadiums, despite the feel-good factor generated by Greece's shock Euro 2004 triumph in Portugal.
The Greek men's and women's teams lost in the first round, compounding the sense of shame the country felt after two Greek sprinters pulled out of the Games after missing dope tests.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter voiced his concern, pleading with the fiercely patriotic Greek fans to show an interest.
"At some matches, I could have shaken the hand of everybody in the stadium," he said. "I appeal to the Greek fans to fill the stadiums. Your can't be in the final every time."
Attendance figures have slumped from the Sydney Games to an average of 10,000 per match compared to 30,000 in Australia.
Only 10,000 people watched the United States give Hall of Famer Mia Hamm the perfect farewell with a 2-1 win over Germany in the women's final on Thursday.
More than 90,000 had packed the Rose Bowl in Pasadena to watch the Americans beat China to win the 1999 World Cup.
With Greece and co-favourites Portugal failing to advance to the quarter-finals of the men's tournament, the focus switched to Argentina and Iraq.
BARREN RUN
Argentina have not won an Olympic gold medal since the 1952 Helsinki Games but the soccer players are strongly fancied to end that barren run in Athens.
The Argentines, who brought a squad largely unchanged from the one which finished runners-up to Brazil in last month's Copa America, face Paraguay in the Olympic final on Saturday.
Boca Juniors playmaker Carlos Tevez has been the player of the tournament with seven goals, and Argentina have scored 16 without reply in five matches.
Satirical writer PJ O'Rourke wrote: "Paraguay is nowhere and famous for nothing." But the Paraguay football team have made history for the isolated South American country.
