Olympics International Soccer

Last week, I looked at the roster for Argentina's Olympic men's soccer team and declared them the prohibitive favorites. Our friends from Brazil might have something to say about that.

Brazil announced it's Olympic men's soccer roster yesterday, and it features none other than Ronaldinho and Robinho as two of its overage players. It also features AC Milan's teenage striker Alexandre Pato, Manchester City new boy Jo, Manchester United midfielder Anderson, Werder Bremen scoring machine Diego and Real Madrid fullback Marcelo.

I suspect Big Ronnie is on this roster primarily to help him shed a few pounds. I'm sure the fresh air in Beijing will do wonders for him.

Brazil is in Group C with Belgium, China and New Zealand, which looks like a cupcake schedule on paper. It also puts them on the opposite side of the bracket as Argentina, so a Brazil v. Argentina final seems quite plausible. Brazil knocked off Argentina in the final of last summer's Copa America with a fairly young squad.

Also, Brazil has never won gold in Olympic soccer. Clearly, they want it now. Perhaps they need it. Brazilians have lost some confidence in their football after the national team fell behind in World Cup Qualifying and Fluminese lost to Ecuadorian club LDU Quito in the Copa Libertadores final. Could their first Olympic gold bring back the magic? Or will this competition knock Brazil back even further?

So Argentina recently announced the roster for its Olympic soccer team. It's overage players are Boca Juniors midfielder Juan Roman Riquelme, Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano and Inter Milan center-back Nicolas Burdisso. That's in addition to Lionel Messi from Barcelona, Fernando Gago from Real Madrid and Sergio Aguero from Atletico Madrid, who are all under 23.

The rest of the field suddenly looks quite doomed, doesn't it? With Ivory Coast, Australia and Serbia in Group A with them, Argentina looks like a lock to go through as the group winner.

That's really bad news for the USA, which is in group B with Japan, the Netherlands and Nigeria. The Group A winner plays the Group B runner-up in the quarterfinals. If the USA wants any hope of a medal in men's soccer, it must win Group B. Finishing second likely means a quarterfinal tie against Argentina. Yes, the senior team held Argentina to a 0-0 draw a month ago, but that wasn't a competitive match at a neutral site. Plus, most of that USA backline won't be in Beijing.

U.S. Soccer has yet to announce its roster for the Olympics, though Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley and Freddy Adu are expected to be on it.