World Soccer: Anyone watching the Olympic football?

No? Thought so.

I do like my footie, yes, but many other sports too, and the soccer Olympic tournament is so bastardised that even when you feel tempted (or even duty-bound as a fan) to watch it, there are just too many other things going on at the same time. And these feature the very best in each discipline, not just a semi-random collection of teams, under 23s, and older stars of differing brightness. So I have been giving it a pass more often than not.

One match I have wanted to see, though, and have seen, is the semi-final between Argentina and Brazil. As you know, it's the ultimate grudge match in international football, and if anyone thinks there's anything close to it, we can settle the matter by an easy World Cup count. This lot: 7. Any other lot?

(Yeah, Germany v Italy, 7 too.)
(Big grudge. They even fought wars together.)

Anyway, Brazil had breezed through the tournament like we know they can. Four played, four won, a zillion goals for, zero against. But then, nothing spoils a decent Brazilian team like an Argentinian team. Any Argentinian team. While others like France and Spain make a point of not using over-23s when they qualify, Brazil and Argentina have never been shy about using the rule to the full. Brazil brought Ronaldinho, which was hard to top, but Argentina have been very shrewd in choosing Riquelme and Mascherano. Riquelme has been playing like it was '06 all over again, again making people wonder why there isn't a big club, or even a Villarreal-sized club, willing to take him in. Although, having said this, his current team, Boca Juniors, are arguably the biggest club west of Lisbon, south of Seville and east of Moscow.

The match ended 3-0 to Argentina, and if you hear the Brazilians tell it, it might be with a hint of 'we wuz robbed' about it. Two red cards against them, one goal disallowed, and the three conceded scored one with an arm, the second maybe in offside and the third from a penalty given after a dive. That should be proof enough, shouldn't it?

Well, no. To start with, the ref was Uruguayan, which, if it was the 1930s, I'd say Argentina v Uruguay is the biggest grudge match of them all. They have always been big local rivals. They don't particularly love the Brazilians either, so he was well placed to annoy everyone in equal measure.

The first goal did come off Sergio Agüero's arm, but it was stuck to his body and he was running to meet a powerfully-hit cross, so I'd give the goal. The second was not offside, with the last defender playing everyone on by sliding his tackle backwards. And the third was one of those falls when you shout 'penalty' when you first see it and then doubts keep creeping in with every replay you see, until you're convinced he dived. What can a ref do?

The Brazilian goal was well disallowed, and the two guys sent off got their marching orders when 3-0 down already. Both of them for the same offence, a tackle from behind on Mascherano. Very harsh, both of them, but they're in the rulebook.

So, it's Argentina v Nigeria (who thumped Europe's finest, erm, Belgium, 4-1) in the final. As far as Olympic finals go, it's the equivalent of, well, Argentina v Brazil in the World Cup. Watch it if you can.

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