Men's soccer preview: Asian teams ambitious for heartening feat in Beijing Olympics

BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhua) -- With the 2008 Olympic men's soccer tournament to kick off in a fortnight, the Asian teams of host China, South Korea, Japan and Australia eye on shining performance in Beijing.

"Beijing is the host city of the Olympic Games. All of us hope we can meet our rivals there. My teammates and I will not give up trying," said Chinese footballer Zheng Zhi, who has become a star player in the English club Charlton Athletic.

More than one billion people will be expecting China to go further, however, the road for the hosts' to advance seemed quite rugged from the very beginning as the Chinese Football Association (CFA) sacked Serbia's Ratomir Dujkovic as coach of its Olympic team just three weeks before the Games.

CFA vice chairman Xie Yalong explained that discontent among players over Dujkovic's training methods and tactics was among the reasons which also included health problems.

Dissatisfaction with Dujkovic has been mounting since last month China's national squad, also coached by the Serb, suffered a humiliating beating by Iraq and then ousted of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

Dujkovic said before he was sacked that he was aiming for a top four finish, but Zheng said the initial goal was simply to reach the knockout stage.

"In the Sydney Games qualifiers in 1999, I, then 19, tried my best amid cheers from countless fans, but failed to live up to their expectation. The Olympic dream was broken," Zheng said to his fans in a video clip aired frequently on local TV.

"These years I have grown up a lot. Now I am anticipating the Beijing Games to make up for the supporters. We are going to turn a new page on the history of the Chinese soccer."

No Asian team so far has won the soccer gold medal since the sport was included in the Olympics 100 years ago. However, regional powers have had some success over the years, such as Japan taking the bronze in 1968 in Mexico City, when they beat the host 2-0 in the play-off match.

Other Asian teams have finished in fourth place -- India in 1956 in Melbourne, Australia in 1992 in Barcelona (they were still Oceanian rather than Asian then), and Iraq four years ago in Athens.

However, the ultimate gold still remains tantalizing for Asia.

Once again, the traditional heavyweights Japan and South Korea believe they will have their shots, as the Olyroos have been widely believed as a strong contender who had showed their mettle by coming through a tough final qualifying campaign against Iraq, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Lebanon.

Australian coach Graham Arnold, who led the senior team at last year's Asian Cup finals, believes his player will go further beyond the group stage.

"We know we can get through this group, we have history and also we have had such a tough schedule just to make it this far, which will hold us in good stead," he said.

China is in a group with Belgium, New Zealand and one of the title favorites Brazil.

Spurred on by its South American rivals, the five-time World Cup winner Brazil is going all-out to win its first Olympic soccer gold in Beijing, summoning its star player Ronaldinho to join in the squad.

"I feel very motivated and happy for having been summoned to the team," Ronaldinho said at a charity event. The Brazilian just finished his transfer from FC Barcelona to AC Milan with an initial payment of 21 million euros.

"My aim is now to prepare myself for the Olympic Games - an honor few players have received," the former Player of the World said.

The Brazilians have to get past their South American archival Argentina if they want to win the gold, and the Argentines have had the most success recently.

In addition to winning the gold in Athens, they also defeated Brazil in the semi-finals of the Under-20 World Cup in the Netherlands in 2005.

Unlike Brazil who can't have its top stars such as the FIFA Player of the Year Kaka to play, Argentina will be packed with talents in Beijing, including Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Juan Roman Riquelme and Javier Mascherano.

"The Olympic Games is something I will never be able to play in again and I am very excited at the prospect," Messi said.

The Beijing Olympics only allows footballers under the age of 23, except three over-age players for each side.

"There is no doubt that I will be there. I have really high hopes with the Olympic squad," Messi said, although Barcelona wanted him to play for the Champions League preliminary.

The Olympic soccer tournament starts on August 6 with the final on August 23, which overlaps the Champions League preliminary that initiates from August 12.