[Dark Horse]

Kicking off next month is another big tournament. Looks like Messi will be playing for defending champions Argentina. That's big. One of the world's best players at this stage.

First glance group winners are in green. No chance countries in blue.

Group A
Argentina
Ivory Coast
Serbia
Australia

Group B
Holland
Nigeria
USA
Japan

Group C
Brazil
Belgium
China
New Zealand

Group D
Italy
Cameroon
Korea
Honduras

Official site:
http://www.fifa.com/mensolympic/news/index.html

[Tevez]

Argentina +2.85 ( DSI ) to win the gold medal looks like an enormous price to me.

It will go down substantially.

[fiveteamer]

I'd put a yard on each one of the African teams.

[akerber]

Brazil has a lot of good players, but doesnt have a team. Never played, and the coach, probably will be kick off if Brazil doesnt win the gold medal. Any players probably will not play the olimpic games, because yours teams will not liberate any players (diego and rafinha). Ronaldinho gaucho will go to olimpic, but he is out of games more than 3 months, and probably has a 10 Kilos up you weight. Brazil probably will be overrated, but I think will not win the gold medal.

[Dark Horse]

Robinho (Real Madrid) and Ronaldinho (Barcelona) were added to Brazil.

It makes it very difficult to develop power rankings, with superstars from the national A team being allowed to join the Olympic team.

[Dark Horse]

Not close yet to power rankings.

Group A
Argentina
Ivory Coast
Serbia
Australia

Ivory Coast and Serbia battling for #2 spot. At a first glance I don't expect much from Ivory Coast.


Group
Holland
Nigeria
USA
Japan

Holland and Nigeria in 1 and 2 spots (either order).


Group C
Brazil
Belgium
China
New Zealand

Belgium and China battling for #2 spot. Home team should get the nod, but Belgium is hard to beat.


Group D
Italy
Cameroon
Korea
Honduras

Cameroon and Korea battling for #2 spot.

[woodg8]

I've got either Ivory Coast and Argentina winning. I can't see any of the other teams coming close.

[4Eigner]

Ronaldinho has no permission from FC Barcelona yet - see this text found on FC Barcelonas Homepage:

The Brazilian player will have to report for training on Monday, the first session of the 2008-09 season.


FC Barcelona have announced that Ronaldinho will be expected to report for training on the forthcoming July 14. The player has been named in the Brazilian Olympic squad to play at the Beijing Games from August 6 to 24.

The Olympics do not form part of the official FIFA calendar, and no official decision has ever been made in that respect, so the club is under no obligation to allow its player to travel.
In recent weeks, technical secretary Txiki Beguiristain has reiterated that Barça’s objective has always been to have as many players as possible ready in time for the Champions League qualifying games.

FIFA Rules

FIFA’s regulations with respect to the release of players to represent their national associations states in article 1.2 of annex 1 that “The release of players … is mandatory for matches on dates listed in the coordinated international match calendar and for all matches for which a duty to release players exists on the basis of a special decision by the FIFA”.

regards,
Mike

EDIT: Today, 16-jul-08 Dinho went to AC Milan. Alexandre Pato (also AC Milan) will be in the Brasilian Team - admission already given. Might be a good sign, perhaps we can see Ronaldinho scoring in China

[Shark79]

Originally Posted by Dark Horse

Not close yet to power rankings.

Group A
Argentina
Ivory Coast
Serbia
Australia

Ivory Coast and Serbia battling for #2 spot. At a first glance I don't expect much from Ivory Coast.


Group
Holland
Nigeria
USA
Japan

Holland and Nigeria in 1 and 2 spots (either order).


Group C
Brazil
Belgium
China
New Zealand

Belgium and China battling for #2 spot. Home team should get the nod, but Belgium is hard to beat.


Group D
Italy
Cameroon
Korea
Honduras

Cameroon and Korea battling for #2 spot.

Cameroon will take that 2nd spot ... no doubt.

[Dark Horse]

Group stage is over. Knock out stage is next:

Argentina - Holland
Brazil - Cameroon
Italy - Belgium
Nigeria - Ivory Coast

Argentina should take care of Holland. The Dutch aren't playing well and just squeezed through, at the cost of the US. Pre-tournament favorite Argentina won all three of its group matches, including a 2-1 win over Ivory Coast. The Dutch tied with Nigeria (0-0) and the US (2-2), and barely beat Japan (1-0).

I would also expect Brazil and Italy to reach the semis.