Slick Argentina Beat The 42-degree Heat And Nigeria To Make It A Double
The Sunday Age
Sunday August 24, 2008
ARGENTINA won back-to-back golds yesterday, fighting off a spirited Nigeria and a searing hot Beijing day.
Angel Di Maria got the goal that won it - an audacious 58th-minute chip over the advancing keeper after Lionel Messi had released him into space on the left. Messi, the star of the tournament, was again dominant, linking well with Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguerro.Nigeria, the 1996 Olympic champions, were persistent, strong and well on top by the end of the game. They came agonisingly close to an 84th-minute equaliser when Everton striker Victor Anichebe deflected a dangerous cross and the ball headed goalwards. Keeper Sergio Romero flung out a hand and stopped it on the line.It was steamy work. A team that had played some dazzling football on its way to gold had to scrape out a result in sapping 42-degree heat and resort to desperate defensive scrambling at the death as their legs gave out. It was a match played, controversially, in the midday sun to finish a tournament in which every other contest had been at night.After a pre-game conference with the team doctors FIFA ordered play to be stopped in the 30th and 70th minutes so that players could rehydrate. Argentine coach Sergio Batista frantically fanned his players with a wet towel. Both coaches criticised the decision to play in the heat of the day - made by organisers because the main stadium was needed for athletics events last night."No team had played a midday match in this tournament," said Nigerian coach Samson Siasia. "It definitely affected both countries. The players could not perform to their level because of the heat. I don't think it was a good idea." Batista agreed. "It's hard to play in such high temperatures," he said. "It's not going to be as spectacular a game at this time of day."The showpiece was played before 89,000 people and the eyes of the world, but took place on a temporary pitch in the main stadium, home to the pole vault and javelin in recent days. It provided a shifting, uneven surface ill-suited to the Argentine passing game. Still, they found a way to win and add Beijing gold to the Athens title they claimed four years ago. Not since Hungary in 1968 has a nation won back-to-back golds. Not in memory has such a fearsome squad been assembled for a Games. Eight of the full-strength Argentine line-up were on the field, including Messi - the man ranked in the top two players in the world.They did not have it easy. In a frantic last 20 minutes both sides created chances as gaps opened up. Messi could have added a second, while Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie - a strong and threatening presence all day - could not lay a boot on a whipping cross that seemed destined for the back of the net. Time and again the Nigerians surged goalwards and were denied.
© 2008 The Sunday Age
