Brazil defeats host China 3-0 in Olympic men's soccer

Brazilian men's soccer team defeated host China 3-0 in their last group match in the Olympic tournament here on Wednesday.

Brazil thus advanced to the finals with an unbeaten record from Group C, and would take on Cameroon in their quarterfinal match.

The loss of China was the fourth consecutive time that the Olympic host countries failed to progress to the knockout stage.

Brazil's first goal came in the 18th minute into the match. Alves Diego ran after a through pass by Ronaldinho, and avoided Chinese goalkeeper Liu Zhenli on their one-on-one encounter before he coolly sent the ball into the empty net.

In the 68th minute, Han Peng, a usual striker but played a defensive position in today's match, received a yellow card after pulling down Brazil's striker Sobis Rafael.

Brazil's Neves Thiago then extended their lead in the awarded free kick with his left-foot shot. The goalkeeper Liu didn't make any response to the shot.

In the 73rd minute, Thiago again enlarged the victory with a left-foot low shot from outside the penalty box.

"China should have played more aggressively in front of their home crowds," Brazilian head coach, Dunga, said at the post-match press conference. He was a key defensive midfielder for the Brazilian squad that won the 1994 World Cup.

The only threat from the Chinese side came in the 37th minute in the first half, when Jiang Ning dodged Brazil's defenders and struck from the left side of the penalty box, but his effort was warded off by defender Silva Thiago's outstretched right foot.

"This is not a normal match for us, as three of our four defenders were suspended due to yellow-card accumulations and red-card suspensions," Chinese head coach Yin Tiesheng said.

"Indeed our players are far behind the Brazilians in terms of techniques, tactics as well as physical abilities. We just wanted to give them more punches and pressures, and I believe we already did it," he said.

"If we could finish our shots better, we could have threatened their goalmouth," he said.

After three group matches, China got only 1 point and stood at the bottom in the group.

"I don't want to make any excuses for our loss," Chinese captain Li Weifeng said. "This is the end of our Olympic tournament, but this is not the end of our football."

"I hope we could give more tolerances and time to Chinese football, so that our younger players would play better in the future," he said.

中国国奥队残留的一丝晋级八强的希望，在１３日最终平淡地化为泡影。他们以０：３不敌巴西队，就此作别北京奥运会。同日的其他场次中，亚洲兄弟黯然无光，欧洲和南美以及非洲诸强全面奏凯。北京奥运会男足八强名单，成为当今世界足坛格局的真实写照。

Ｃ组中国国奥队在秦皇岛遭遇实力强大的巴西队。赛前巴西队主帅邓加就表示，“巴西队从来不打友谊赛，”而比赛的结果也验证了这位志在率队夺冠的主帅的话，罗纳尔迪尼奥、迭戈等主力都出现在首发阵容之中。第１８分钟，迭戈率先攻破国奥大门，此后内维斯梅开二度，最终将比分锁定在３：０。之前为中国国奥队打入奥运会历史上第一粒入球的董方卓获得首发，但最终颗粒无收。

由于在同时进行的新西兰与比利时的比赛中，前者一球告负，这样中国队就凭借比新西兰少一个的净负球的优势，获得小组第三名。这样的战绩似乎比２０年前中国队首次进入奥运会时略微体面一些，但其实令人伤心依旧。

劲旅阿根廷队在Ａ组波澜不惊地以２：０击败塞尔维亚，以小组第一身份出线。梅西与里克尔梅没有出场，引发了北京工体五万余球迷的不满，但主帅巴蒂斯塔赛后为自己的雪藏行为作出了解释，并特意向中国球迷道歉。同组的科特迪瓦队一球小胜澳大利亚队，获得了该组的另外一个出线名额。

在稍早前进行的另外两个小组的最后一轮比赛中，之前排名Ｂ组第一的美国队开赛三分钟便被红牌罚下一人，最终１：２负于尼日利亚队，在成全了对手抢回小组头名位置的同时，自己却失去了晋级机会。该组另外一个出线名额由荷兰队获得，他们１：０击败了日本队。

Ｄ组比赛中，意大利队和喀麦隆队互交白卷，但却双双携手晋级。韩国队虽然１：０击败洪都拉斯队，但未能挽回出局命运，亚洲球队就此全军覆没。

北京奥运会男足四分之一淘汰赛将于１６日继续进行，尼日利亚和科特迪瓦两支非洲球队将同室操戈；意大利队与比利时队也将一决高下。夺冠热门阿根廷队、巴西队则将分别迎战荷兰队和喀麦隆队。