Hernanes scores the match-winner for Brazil

SHENYANG: Ecstatic Sao Paulo midfielder Hernanes rescued Brazil with a late goal as the South Americans opened their Olympic account with a scrappy 1-0 win over nine-man Belgium at the Olympic football tournament on Thursday.

The 23-year-old twisted past a defender with 12 minutes left and unleashed a left foot drive that flew past Belgium keeper Logan Bailly to hand one of the tournament favourites a crucial win.

In another match, Lionel Messi scored on his long-awaited and nearly cancelled Olympic debut to inspire Argentina to a 2-1 victory over the Ivory Coast.

Almost pulled out of the competition by FC Barcelona, Messi scored in the 43rd minute to give Argentina the lead. Sekou Cisse equalized with a powerful header in the 52nd.

But Messi’s shot set up the winner in the 85th, Lautaro Acosta turning the ball home after the Barcelona star’s shot had been blocked by the goalkeeper.
China holds NZ

Nigeria held the gold-medal favourite Netherlands to a 0-0 draw on Wednesday, competing evenly with the reigning two-time European under-21 champion in its Olympic opener and China’s substitute striker Dong Fangzhuo scored a late equaliser to give the host a 1-1 draw against 10-man New Zealand in its opener at the Olympic football tournament.
Taking advantage

The Brazilians made the most of Vincent Kompany being sent off with 20 minutes left for a second yellow card, piling on the pressure to finally prise open the resilient Belgium defence.

Belgium was reduced to nine men with three minutes remaining when Marouane Fellaini joined his teammate for an early shower.

Brazil looked lively in the opening 15 minutes, pressing the attack but it was Belgium which had the first chance when Lille striker Kevin Miralles smartly turned a defender after five minutes only to scuff his shot wide.

Both sides were fired up with several incidents that the referee did well to keep a lid on as wild tackles flew. But clear-cut opportunities were few and far between.
Flashes of brilliance

Ronaldinho showed flashes of his old brilliance but he lacked the extra yard of pace that made him so dangerous. “I haven’t played an official football match for four months. Today was the first official game for me and I am happy to be back,” he said.

The 28-year-old, in the team as an over-age player, had two decent free-kicks from 25 yards in the first period but neither bothered Bailly.

At the other end, Brazilian keeper Renan pulled off a crucial stop with his legs after Miralles was set free, but other than that was hardly troubled.

Brazil came out after the break with more zeal as Ronaldinho caused problems down the left.

His AC Milan teammate Alexandre Pato had a glorious chance to open the scoring 11 minutes after the restart when Ronaldinho outfoxed a defender and whipped over a tantalising low cross.

Bailly got a hand to it, pushing the ball into Pato’s path but he failed to capitalise, leaving it to Hernanes to make sure of all three points. “When I was a child, I always dreamed about the Olympics. Now I have scored a goal and no words can explain my happiness,” Hernanes said.
Late equaliser

Substitute striker Dong Fangzhuo’s 88th-minute header from near the penalty spot went over New Zealand goalkeeper Jacob Spoonley and into the far post, delighting the loud home crowd at the nearly packed 60,000-capacity Shenyang Olympic Stadium.

Midfielder Jeremy Brockie had opened the scoring for New Zealand with a right-footer from inside the area in the 53rd minute, completing Craig Henderson’s pass over the Chinese defence

New Zealand played a man down after Steven Old was ejected for a handball that prompted his second yellow card in the 39th minute.

The results:

Brazil 1 (Hernanes) bt Belgium 0; Argentina 2 (Lionel Messi, Lautaro Acosta) bt Ivory Coast 1 (Sekou Cisse); China 1 (Dong Fangzhuo) draw with New Zealand 1 (Jeremy Brockie); Nigeria 0 drew with the Netherlands 0.

Australia 1 (Ruben Zadkovich) drew with Serbia (Slobodab Rajkovic 1); Korea 1 (Chu Young Park) drew with Cameroon 1 (Georges Mandjeck); USA 1 (Start Holden) bt Japan 0; Italy 3 (Sebastian Giovinco, Robert Acquafresca, Rossi Giuseppe) bt Honduras 0. — Agencies

Leander and Mahesh ready to strike

BEIJING: Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are trying to be fourth-time lucky in the Olympic Games.

“We had a very good work-out. The preparation has been great. Both of us reached the semifinals of Cincinnatti. We would have trained in Los Angeles only if we had not done well in the last tournament.

“It makes sense to come early and get acclimatised to the slow and high bouncing courts and conditions here,” said Paes, after a rigorous training session with his erstwhile partner Martin Damm and Pavel Vizner of the Czech Republic.

On a warm day, it was a joy to watch Paes and Bhupathi, trying to tune themselves towards peak form and fitness, so as to be ready when the competition begins. They start against Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon of France.
Tough draw

“It is a tough draw. We are in fact lucky to be seeded No.7. They have used a new system of singles rankings to seed the doubles players. The first round is always tough. The French are big guys,” said Paes, as he viewed the second quarter of the draw in which the Indian pair figured.

The Indian duo is likely to meet the Czech pair of Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek if it pulls off the first round. The quarterfinals could well be against Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka, seeded fourth.

“Federer is a genius and Wawrinka is a top-10 singles player,” Paes pointed out, though he in partnership with Lukas Dlouhy had beaten them in straight sets in Canada, a fortnight ago.

Well, the Swiss may have to first get past special invitees, the defending champions Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu of Chile.

The Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, are seeded No.1, while the Serbs, Novak Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic are second. Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram of Israel are seeded third and figure in the third quarter. The Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo are seeded No.6, and figure in the top quarter.

Asked whether he was hungry to win a better medal than the singles bronze that he had won in Atalanta in 1996, Paes, competing in his fifth Olympics, said that the media would run out of pages to write, if he started answering the question.

Mahesh practised for an additional hour with Sunitha Rao as Sania Mirza had not reached yet.
Sania’s path is difficult

In fact, Sania has a tough draw, as she runs into the seventh seed and Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in the second round, if she gets past Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic.

Even in doubles, Sania and Sunitha are likely to meet the top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina, if they beat Tatiana Golovin and Pauline Parmentier of France in the first round.

“We are here to win the tournament, and the draw does not matter, or who we play first”, said Bhupathi, who had a snide remark at the assembled Indian media by saying that only five per cent of them believed that the Indian pair could actually win an Olympic medal.

“We are still capable of winning matches. People say that we are over the hill. I don’t see any hill in front. We are playing top quality tennis”, he said.

“There are some great doubles teams playing each other in the first round. We are lucky to be seeded. They have to show some consistency, as it is the first time the singles ranking has been considered for doubles seeding. They don’t do that even in Grand Slams,” said Bhupathi, as he turned his ire on the authorities.

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi have different personalities, but the same goal.

Can they give us a lasting memory of their world class partnership? Only time will tell.

Source:the HIndu

Olympic Village: home for all athletes

Olympic Village: home for all athletes
By Sportswriter Lou Chen

BEIJING, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Italian lasagna, Beijing roast duck or kosher foods? Athletes from more than 200 countries and regions may find their favorite home foods in the Beijing Olympic Village.



The diversity of meals, divided into different zones including Chinese, Asian, international and Mediterranean, underlines the meticulous preparation in the village which houses about 16,000 athletes, coaches and their entourage. The village officially opened on Sunday.

"We want to make this place a nice, quiet and comfortable place to stay, a place that feels like home," said village secretary-general Wu Jingmi.

The sprawling complex, which runs 800 meters from north to south and 900 meters across, is only 20 minutes walk northwest of two centerpiece Games venues - the Bird's Nest stadium and aquatic venue Water Cube. The distance is one of the closest in all Olympics.

The village contains a main restaurant that can feed 5,000 people, teahouses, coffee shops, a barbershop, post office, shops, library and a clinic.

In catering alone, some 100 foreign and 2,300 Chinese chefs and waiters offer 24-hour service every day. Menus change every eight days, and the meals are athletes special.

"We have very strict rules to make sure the foods are safe and calories for each dish are made clear for the athletes own discretion, because there may be stringent weight rules in some events," Wu said.

Hundreds of home-style foods, along with customized beds, space for religious masses and entertainment facilities, are part of the efforts to provide comfortable stay for all athletes, Wu said.

Other services like chances of getting a Chinese name add colors to their Olympic experience. "I believe they will find it interesting to stay here," Wu said.


Construction of the complex started in the summer of 2005, and the total of 42 apartment buildings were built with water recycling technologies, environmentally friendly construction materials and solar-powered lighting. The apartments save two thirds of the energy costs of ordinary ones in Beijing.

Alternative-fuelled vehicles carry athletes within the village, to and from the Olympic venues. The complex was built according to IOC (International Olympic Committee) rules, Wu said, but elements of Chinese culture have been weaved into the design and decoration, making it not just any another Olympic village.


It used the colors of Beijing's grey brick walls, white stone balconies, paper-cuts and red lanterns. Cultural performances like embroidery, woodcarving, painting and Beijing Opera mask will be held in the courtyard of the international zone.

"The village is a place where the athletes can unwind and get to know Chinese culture. We want to give them a full experience with Chinese culture," said Deng Yaping, a famed Olympic table tennis champion and deputy village head.

In line with IOC regulations, a religious center had been set up in the village, she said.

Deng said on Friday that 46 countries and regions have had some representation in the village since its preliminary opening on July 20. The village is expected to be fully lodged.

Secretary-general Wu said thousands of staff and volunteers are ready to receive the athletes, and anticipated no easy task. "We have made several hundreds of plans for every type of contingencies, but security, services and management are still big challenges," he said.

The single task of taking all the athletes to the opening ceremony on Aug. 8 is daunting. "We have to arrange 360 buses to take them to the Bird's Nest. The whole process will take at least one and half hour, and that's only possible if the cooperation between the village and the delegations goes well," he said.

Before the July 20 test run, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) President Liu Qi said a well-run Olympic Village was a significant part of a successful Games. He ordered the village staff to keep working on the details and provide maximal possible service to all the athletes.

The village will close on Aug. 27. Also as the Paralympic Village, it will reopen on Aug. 30 and close on Sept. 20.