Olyroos Edged by Argentina

Nikita Rukavytsya came off the bench as the Olyroos suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Argentina in Shanghai last night.

Rukavytsya entered the match after 72 minutes and had the chance to put Australia in the lead after a slip by an Argentine defender allowed the Perth Glory striker a free run on goal. Rukavytsya could only find the side of the net and Argentina would make the Olyroos pay on 77 minutes after a fantastic build up lead to a goal for Ezequiel Lavezzi.

Argentina is the reigning Olympic champion and with names like Messi, Riquelme and Mascherano it was no wonder they are again favourites in Beijing.

Argentina dominated in most facets of the game but Australia defended resolutely and repeatedly thwarted their more illustrious South American opponents.

Olyroos Coach Graham Arnold was proud of the team’s performance but was left to rue missed opportunities.

“I was extremely proud of the performance but frustrated we lost,” Arnold said.

“When we have several gilt-edged chances against that type of opposition, you have to score them.

“The boys worked extremely hard and carried out the game plan so well it took a world-class goal to beat us.

“We frustrated them to the point they were putting balls out of play. But we had to take one of our chances.”

Australia can still qualify for the next phase of the Olympic tournament but will need a win when it plays Ivory Coast in its final group match on Wednesday.

Ivory Coast put on a clinic of football, defeating Serbia 4-2 in an end to end match which left fans on the edge of their seats.

In other matches Nigeria defeated Japan 2-1, USA and the Netherlands played out a 2-2 draw, Brazil showed their class in defeating new Zealand 5-0, Belgium got their campaign back on track with a 2-0 win over hosts China and in group D their were wins for Cameroon and Italy.