Matchday Three

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Matchday Three

Don't Dream It's Over … But It Is For Now

by Jeremy Ruane

Waiting for the media bus to depart Shenyang's Olympic Football venue on Tuesday night, a tune came into my head which perfectly summed up my feelings.

I was - am - every bit as disappointed as the Football Ferns at the outcome of the evening's action, because I - and they - know that tonight, but for a couple of spells which were crudely curtailed by the concession of counter-attack-based goals, they failed to play to anything like their potential.

They'll cop criticism for that, and fair enough, too, but such criticism should be considered, rather than the reactionary style which has become the norm thanks to (largely ill-informed) opinion forums as talkback radio.

Because this team is young enough and talented enough to learn from this setback and come back all the stronger. To my mind, they're a promising young combination who are still developing into a champion team, and for this reason alone they will suffer setbacks - such as tonight's game - along the way as they work towards realising their full potential.

So when Neil Finn's dulcet tones - “Hey now, hey now, don't dream it's over” - started drifting into my thoughts, it just summed things up perfectly. The Football Ferns' dream for this Olympics is at an end, but the potential in this combination is nowhere near being fully realised, hence that dream is nowhere near over, not by a long chalk.

Tonight they came up against a champion team, one which could afford to leave one of the best passers of a ball in the women's game on the bench for all but the last fifteen minutes.

Aly Wagner is class with a capital `C' - just watching her in action in that last quarter-hour was on a par with seeing Ronaldinho weave his wizardry against the OlyWhites on Sunday night. A magical player.

Heather O'Reilly's Olympic record 42-second firecracker put the USA on the front foot right from the outset against the Football Ferns, and just as the Kiwis were getting to grips with their opponents, up popped Amy Rodriguez to hammer home a second goal just before half-time.

Amber Hearn won't forget her miss soon after half-time in a hurry, particularly as it prompted the USA to score twice in four minutes, through Lindsay Tarpley and Angela Hucles, to wrap up the scoring.

The reigning Olympic champions' 4-0 win was enough to see them top the group, a result of Japan coming from behind to maul Norway 5-1 - a massive upset, and one which propelled Nadeshiko into the quarter-finals as one of the two best third-placed teams.

Guro Knutsen's goal just shy of the half-hour put the Norwegians in charge on the scoreboard, but the signs were already evident that Japan weren't going to end this game with a duck-egg next to their name in the goals for column.

Sure enough, Yukari Kinga levelled matters just four minutes later, before two goals in a minute soon after half-time sealed Norway's fate. Gunhild Folstad put through her own net prior to Shinobu Ohno netting via the crossbar with a screamer seconds later.

Homare Sawa made it 4-1 twenty minutes from time, with Ayumi Hara making it a nap hand for Nadeshiko with seven minutes remaining in Shanghai, their emphatic victory securing them a quarter-final with China in Qinhuangdao.

The host nation comfortably accounted for Argentina 2-0 at that venue, with both goals coming in the second half. Maria Quinones put through her own net seven minutes after half-time to put the Chinese en route to victory, a result confirmed in stoppage time when Gu Yasha struck. In between times, another goal had been denied by the offside flag, while Han Duan missed a host of opportunities to increase China's winning margin.

The other teams in China's group clashed in Beijing, where Sweden prevailed 2-1 to leapfrog Canada on the standings, although both teams progress to the quarter-finals, the Canucks thanks to their third-placed haul of four points.

Two Lotta Schelin goals secured the Swedes' passage, the striker netting in each half before Melissa Tancredi pulled a goal back just after the hour mark for the Canadians, who now take on next-door neighbours the USA in Shanghai.

Sweden's reward for progressing is a clash with reigning Women's World Cup holders Germany, who ousted North Korea 1-0 in Tianjin to set up this Shenyang quarter-final. Anja Mittag struck four minutes from time to secure her country's passage, Simone Laudehr having seen her header hit the crossbar earlier in this closely contested encounter.

The Germans finished second in the group behind Brazil, who booked a quarter-final clash with Norway in Tianjin by thumping Nigeria 3-1 in Beijing, thanks to the fastest hat-trick in Olympic Women's Football Tournament history.

Cristiane bagged the match ball with a barrage of strikes inside the final fifteen minutes of the first half, after the Nigerians had opened the scoring from the penalty spot through Perpetua Nkwocha.

That result sees the Africans joining the Argentinians in heading home without a point to their names, and means New Zealand conclude their maiden Olympic Women's Football Tournament in tenth place in the twelve-team competition. The quarter-finals take place on Friday at the various venues.

Olympic Women's Football Tournament, Matchday Three Summary:

Group E:

China 2 (“oggie” (52), Gu Yasha (90)), Argentina 0 HT 0-0

Sweden 2 (L. Schelin (19, 51)), Canada 1 (M. Tancredi (63)) HT 1-0

Group F:

Brazil 3 (Cristiane (33, 35, 45)), Nigeria 1 (P. Nkwocha (19 pen)) HT 3-1

Germany 1 (A. Mittag (86)), North Korea 0 HT 0-0

Group G:

Japan 5 (Y. Kinga (31), “oggie“ (51), S. Ohno (52), H. Sawa (70), A. Hara (83)), Norway 1 (G. Knutsen (27)) HT 1-1

USA 4 (H. O'Reilly (1), A. Rodriguez (42), L. Tarpley (56), A. Hucles (60)), New Zealand 0 HT 2-0

2008