The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 179

12 hejjbnfuPormnBSralli FOOTBALL WATER POLO smh.com.au Wednesday, September 20, 2000 TONIGHT'S GAMES Deflated Olyroos limp away after a pointless exercise Basic errors see Matildas waltz out of contention Valladares produced two stunning saves to deny substitutes Clayton Zane and Jason Culina. There could also have been a late penalty, but referee Mourad Daami failed to see Josip Skoko being pulled back in the box. And so the campaign ends in despair. It may well cost coach Raul Blanco his job, but the players must shoulder some of the responsibility. However, Stan Lazaridis, the Birmingham City wing-back, should be spared any blame.

He was undisputably Australia's best player in the tournament, and returns to England with his confidence restored. In the end there wasn't even the consolation of a point for the Olyroos, who ended a forgettable Olympic campaign with a 2-1 loss to Honduras at the Sydney Football Stadium last night. Three games, three defeats, for a side that went into Sydney 2000 with such high hopes. A crushing disappointment, and a few reputations will return to club duty the worse for wear. Against a lively Honduran side that needed victory to advance their own desperate claim for a place in the quarter-finals, the story was a familiar one.

Again the work at the back left a obvious. For the third game in succession the Olyroos had made life impossible for themselves. That they still got a standing ovation at the final whistle reflects the forgiving nature of the Australian public. The chief destroyer on this occasion was the athletic No. 9, David Suazo, whose goals had carried Honduras into the Olympics and who made Australia's life a misery last night.

His pace was frightening, upsetting an already fragile Olyroo defence. Stephen Laybutt, in particular, would have been glad to see the back of him. Suazo opened the scoring after FOOTBALL just two minutes, fed by Carlos Paes, who pounced when Simon Colosimo gave the ball away in midfield. In the 59th minute Suazo grabbed what proved to be the winner when he accelerated through a static Olyroo backline before putting his shot past goalkeeper Danny Milosevic, who did well to get a hand to the ball. In between, Australia had managed to equalise, a cross from Kasey Wehrman being turned into his own net by Jaime Rosales, under pressure from Michael Curcija.

The Olyroos might have had another, but goalkeeper Noel WOMEN'S PRELIMINARIES Michael Cockerill The Matildas mimicked their male colleagues at the Sydney Football Stadium last night, producing two horrendous defensive blunders to bow out of medal contention after losing 2-1 to Brazil. MEN'S PRELIMINARIES Michael Cockerill lot to be desired. Again poor defending left the Olyroos chasing the game. A flurry of activity towards the end got the crowd going, but did little to disguise the Italians and Nigerians book place in quarters with hard-fought draw 4 1 'if BRAZIL JAPAN In the past two clays, the streets and hotels of Brisbane have been rilling with Japanese journalists 40 rooms in the Mercure Hotel alone and thousands of fans of the team who have taken Group by stonn. So Japan can expect highly vocal crowd support for the sold-out game at the Gabba.

Japan's French coach Philippe Troussier said it was a situation that nobody could have dreamt of two weeks ago, with Brazil going in as the underdogs. "We have nothing to lose and will use the same approach as in previous games," he said. Troussier, however, will be without two of his main players Italy's Serie A golden boy Hidetoshi Nakata and captain Ryuzo Morioka, who are serving one-game suspensions for receiving two yellow cards. Troussier said it was a pity to lose such key players, but added that it did not mean his team would play for a draw. I just hope my players don't give them too much respect on the field," he said.

"If we get this performance right, we could knock Brazil out of die competition and that's a great challenge." The whole of Brazil knows this is a must-win game. Keith Austin SLOVAKIA SOUTH AFRICA It has been only three days since his side pulled off the most stunning upset of the Olympic tournament by thrashing Brazil in Brisbane, but South Africa's charismatic coach, Ephraim "Shakes" Mashaba, is not without problems. The South Africans go into the game against Slovakia in Canberra relying on Japan to beat Brazil, for another victory will not provide South Africa with an iron-clad guarantee of passage through to the quarter-finals. South Africa's task will be all the harder without Quinton Fortune, a pivotal figure in midfield, who is suspended for one match after picking uphis second yellow card. Unless the void left by the Manchester United star is properly filled Jabu Pule, Steve Lekoelea and Stanton Fredericks are the Candidates to come in South Africa are in danger of being flooded by Slovakia's midfield.

Injury also prevented South Africans Delron Buckley and Siyabonga Nomvedie from training yesterday, aldiough both are expecting to play tonight. James Nicholson MOROCCO SPAIN If any team in the competition could be excused for feeling sorry for themselves, it is Morocco. They have conceded five goals in their two defeats, but still claim they have been the victims of poor refereeing. Tonight's match at the MCG gives them the perfect opportunity to bow out of the tournament with a bang. "If we get the right referee against Spain, we hope things will go right.

We need only fairness from the referees," coach Said Elkhedir insisted. For Spain, this looms as a difficult game. They lie second in the group, with three points and a bettergoal difference than South Korea. The Spaniards need to win to ensure they reach the quarter-finals. Michael Lynch CHILE SOUTH KOREA Chile, one of the tournament's surprise packages, produced two splendid performances against Morocco and Spain.

South Korea, who have been disappointing so far, are likely to be without captain Kim Do-Kyun, and are not looking forward to tonight's match at Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide. While die Koreansarestaringatelimination, Chile have every reason to be confident. The team have gelled but coach Nelson Acosta is trying to prevent over-confidence creeping into the camp, and said he would be selecting his strongest team. Soudi Korea must beat Chile, assuming Spain dispose of Morocco, to remain in the equation. Jonathan Cook USA NIGERIA It was somewhat surprising that the Nigerian women's team were the first team to be knocked out of the tournament, after defeats by China and Norway- but tonight diey will look to save face and record an upset win over die US.

It looks art impossible task, but Nigeria head coach Ismaila Mabo says the Americans will not have things all their own way. While the US are heavily favoured to win, they cannot afford to relax. Should they lose and Norway upset the Chinese they could be out, which is unthinkable for their army of female fans back home and the travelling news media who are used to nothing but success. Michael Lynch NORWAY CHINA Per-Mathias Hogmo's tenure as coach of the Norwegian women's team is likely to end in Canberra tonight unless they beat China in dieir final Group match. Barring Nigeria beating the US, the losers of tonight's match will be eliminated.

Defeat for Norway will represent an unsatisfactory end to the four-year reign of Hogmo, who announced earlier this year that he would be leaving after the Olympics to take charge of the national under-2 1 men's team. Norway suffered a harrowing opening-match loss to the US, and followed that with an indifferent perloi mancc against Nigeria, who were iinhu ky to lose 31. A will be sufficient foi China. James Nicholson MEN'S PRELIMINARIES Jonathan Cook It took a while to get going, but once Nigeria and Italy had warmed up in their final Olympic football preliminary match last night, there was plenty to savour for a record crowd at Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide. A mass of 18.340 spectators, a number that beat Saturday's Italy-Honduras match by just 30.

were almost sent to sleep in a dull opening, before goats, send offs and even flares which had somehow escaped the massive security checks brought the game to life. The 1-1 draw Lakes Italy to a Sydney quarter-tinals showdown with the runner-up of group while Nigeria's next trip is to Melbourne-, where they tackle the winner of the same group, which is likely to be Chile, although not certain. Garba Lawal opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 40 minutes, in an often lifeless first half. But his goal injected adrenalin into a match that had been ebbing to a predictable draw Italy, forever the tactical experts, were not about to hit the panic button, and when Azubuike Oliseh was sent off for a second bookable offence, bringing down Ighli Vannucchi with a late tackle in the S'Hli minute, tlicv- were given a psychological and numerical lilt. The goal the Italian contingent had been expecting came five minutes later when Roberto Baronio's cracking volley, which had been travelling wide, deflected off the unfortunate Gbenga Okunowo and into the net.

Italy again wilted under Nigeria's smart approach plav, and young star Julius Aghahowa could have crashed in a winner in the 69th minute, but he snatched at his shot and it flew over. The 10-men of Nigeria, showing the sort of spirit that brought the country its first Olympic football gold medal at Atlanta four years ago, shone through and the Africans earned the draw they needed to be certain of a quarterfinals spot. Nigeria started with more pur- pose, controlling the ball well in the opening exchanges without Three days after the Olyroos had killed their own chances with two schoolboy mistakes against Nigeria, the Matildas produced a carbon-copy performance to hand the match to Brazil. Needing a win to have any chance to qualify for the semifinals, things were looking good for Australia at half-time. A wonder goal from striker Sunni Hughes, who ripped off her shirt in celebration, provided Australia with a lead they richly deserved.

Gone was the uncertainty, and the timidity, that had characterised Australia's first two matches at the Olympics. In their place was a growing self-belief, and a more patient and creative approach. The reward came in the 33rd minute, when a harmless ball towards the area from Alicia Ferguson created the chance for Hughes to weave her magic. The first touch took die ball back over her head and past two static defenders, the second taking it away" from the last line of defence. Hughes then kept her eool to stroke the ball past the goalkeeper Andreia, the 24th goal of her international career undoubtedly the best, and most important.

The goal provided the platform for Australia to enjoy its best spell of the game. Either side of half-time, the Matildas dominated their more illustrious opponents. With Kate McShea and Alison Forman breaking up the attacks, and Cheryl Salisbury imposing in defence, Australia controlled much of the possession. Hughes, ably supported by the willing Ferguson, was enjoying the service, and the room to move. The Brazilians had lost their rhythm, and their shape.

But, sadly, they had not lost the match. There was no danger in the 56th minute when the ball fell towards the edge of the Australian penalty area, with three Matildas players in close proximity. But for some reason Bridgette Starr panicked when she received a pass from goalkeeper Tracey Wheeler. Her ball into the middle was easily intercepted, and suddenly Wheeler was caught off her line. Raquel, from 30 metres out, saw the opening, and lobbed the ball towards the goal.

Wheeler, backpedalling, could not get there in time. The match was back on level terms. Eight minutes later a moment of indecision between Dianne Alagich and Salisbury left the ball at the feet of the ever-dangerous Katia, who could scarcely believe her luck. With only Wheeler to beat, she poked her shot into the bottom corner of the net. The sad part is this was arguably Australia's best-ever performance in a major tournament.

But vet-' erans such as Hughes, Tann-Darby, Wheeler and tha injured striker Julie Murray will leave the international stage without the rewards their devotion to the cause deserves. Michael Lynch reports: Sweden -knowing that nothing less than a win would give them any hope of progressing to the semi-finals -were galvanised into their best performance of the tournament against a German side already guaranteed a place in the last four. But it wasn't good enough, after German midfielder Ariane Hingst shrugged off two challengers and flicked a chip over Swedish goalkeeper Caroline Joensson in the 88th minute to grab a 1-0 victory. Germany, who finished the group phase with a 100 per cent record, will meet the US, China or Norway in the semi-finals. --V'4 sjf 1 Photo: AP Italy's Claudio Rivalta (left) battles for possession with Nigeria's Victor Agali in their teams' match in Adelaide last night.

The referee pointed to the spot and Lawal blasted the penalty into the top left-hand corner to give the Africans the lead after 40 minutes. The closing five minutes of the half produced the kind of entertainment the capacity crowd had expected, although the tricolore flags were fluttering with uncertainty as first Ikedia and then Agali threatened to put the Africans further in front. really troubling AC Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati. In fact, it was Gregg Etafia at the other end who had to be alert when Godwin Okpara's mistake allowed the dangerous Gianni Comandini a free strike at the Nigerian goal. Etafia, whose tall frame must make the target seem smaller than it really is from such close range, blocked the shot.

Nigeria's Dutch-based midfielder Lawal created his side's first chance of the half after 16 minutes, exchanging passes on the edge of the box before Victor Agali fired in a shot that bothered a couple of people in the second tier of the northern stand, but not Abbiati. A scrappy opening half-hour produced three yellow cards, one of which will result in Italian stand-in captain Roberto Baronio missing the quarter-finals. When the crowd began a Mexican wave clearly a signal of restlessness and not excitement in the 39th minute, Nigeria sparked the onfield proceedings with a delicious move down the right-hand side. Pius Ikedia started a typically explosive run down the flank, flicked the ball to Victor Agali, who was in the process of rounding Abbiati when he was brought down. American footballers show that the boys can do it, too Keith Austin reports: With Cameroon needing only a draw to go through to the quarter-finals, the stage was set for a hesitant game against the Czech Republic at the Gabba last night.

And that's exactly what we got until a 24th-minute strike by Arsenal's Lauren Etame Mayer galvanised the Czechs and relaxed their opponents enough to allow them to display their renowned skills. Neither side had done much to trouble the other until a long ball down the middle allowed Lauren into the area where, for my money, he was impeded by Radoslav Kovac. The defender's sad little clearance went only as far as Patrick Mboma, though, who tapped to his left to find Samuel Etoo, who slotted it sideways back to Lauren on the right, who slammed it home. A lacklustre second half was livened by a Czech goal on the half hour from a free kick, and suddenly the game was wide open again. In the final 15 minutes, the play moved from end to end, with both sides nearly scoring.

But the Americans were made to sweat in the final minutes after Kuwait, who needed only a draw to ensure their progress, pulled a goal back against the run of play in the 83rd minute when substitute Bader Najem met Adel Al Anezi's low cross. Eighteen-year-old substitute Landon Donavon made sure of a US victory with an 88th-minute goal after being released into space in the Kuwait penalty area by Josh Wolf. It was only after coach Clive Charles sought to inject more urgency into his attack after half an hour by introducing Donovan in place of fellow teenager Conor Casey that the US were able to convert their territorial advantage into goals. Califf outjumped the defence to score from a Jeff Agoos corner for the opener. The second was also started by Agoos, who played a long ball into the channel for Albright, whose shot was deflected into the goal by Kuwait goalkeeper Shehab Kankone.

The win should convince the US public that it is not only the country's women who can play football. MEN'S PRELIMINARIES Michael Lynch The United States made some soccer history last night when they overpowered a disappointing Kuwait 3-1 at a rain-lashed MCG to advance to the quarter-finals the first time they have got that far in an Olympic tournament. A powerful 4oth-minute header by defender Danny Califf put the US on the road to victory and a second -half strike by Chris Albright in the 63rd minute looked to have sealed it. 1 1 l1 1 I Women sink US to seal berth in semis rr. 1 VN 4 iK ri 4.

1 deficit into a 5-3 lead. The Americans, noted for their persistence, kept pressuring the Australians and, with the diniinutive Brenda Villa's strong arm penetrating the Australian defence, they fought back to 6-5 at the last break. With little more than three minutes left, the scores were tied again at 6-6 after Villa's shot beat Liz Weekes. Seconds later, Gusterson scored what turned out to be the winning goal on a long shot. It has been apparent that the burdens of local pressure and favouritism have weighed on the Australians.

According to defensive star Naomi Castle, who stole the ball five times yesterday (no other player managed more than one), they were much calmer in the high-stakes game. "I think we've been a little bit tense. We just came into the game knowing what we had to do. I think coming in a little bit more relaxed rather than stressed really helped us a lot." Gorgenyi. "They fought as champions it was beautiful.

I cannot thank enough the heart of the girls." The Australians, slightly disappointing against the Dutch, played with greater purpose and skill from the outset yesterday and received contributions from a greater part of the team than in earlier matches, when they relied heavily on skipper Brigette Gusterson and Yvette Higgins to score goals. They quickly took a 2-0 lead through goals to Melissa Mills and Gusterson in the opening minutes. The Americans responded swiftly to tie the scores by quarter-time and, in the second quarter, gained the upper hand for a while, capturing the lead 3-2 for the first and only time in the match. The third quarter was the critical period in which the Australians regained composure a trait that Gorgenyi later highlighted. They scored the next three goals to Naomi Castle, Higgins (on a penalty) and Joanne Fox to turn the Only 24 hours earlier, they were staring at the troubling, if unlikely, possibility of elimination from the tournament.

Yesterday, after hanging on to defeat the previously unbeaten Americans, the Australian women put themselves within one victory of a play-off for water polo gold. The Australians beat the Americans 7-6 in a tense yet crowd-pleasing and high-standard match to qualify for the final four and regain the medal momentum that had been squandered in Monday's defeat at Dutch hands. The match was in the balance until the final 30 seconds, when the Australians forced a turnover to thwart the persistent Americans' final bid to tie the scores. The victory gave Australia their third win from four matches and repaired the self-belief that the Dutch had dented. The Australians share the top of the six-team table and, regardless of the result of today's final preliminary match WATER POLO WOMEN'S PRELIMINARIES JakeNiall against Canada, will participate in Friday's semi-finals.

The Dutch beat Canada 7-4 last night to also ensure themselves a semi-final berth, while Russia kept alive their chances by thrashing Kazakhstan 15-6. Debbie Watson, a 35-year-old veteran of 300 international matches, said the importance of the win could barely be understated. "We could have found ourselves out of the top four. It was possibly the most important win of the tournament." "I was just amazed," said an emotional Australian coach Istan 1 ir1 1 Miami. Photo: Orlando Chiodo Australian goalkeeper Liz Weekes makes a save during the 7-6 victory over the US.

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