ATHENS, 27 August - Argentina is the new Olympic champion in the Men's Football competition, having on Saturday morning beaten Paraguay 1-0 in the final at the Olympic Stadium.
The decisive goal was scored by Carlos TEVEZ (ARG) in the 18th minute. The Argentinian forward reacted quicker than goalkeeper Diego
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| Argentiana celebrate winning the Gold medal after beating Paraguay 1-0 in the men's football gold medal match played between Argentina and Paraguay on 28/08/2004 |
BARRETO (PAR) to collect Mauro ROSALES' (ARG) cross from the left, knocking the ball in from close range.
The strike gave TEVEZ his eighth goal for the tournament, taking him three clear of his nearest challenger, Paraguay's Jose CARDOZO, in the leading scorers' list.
As a result of its win Argentina becomes the first team to go through the extended Olympic football competition format without conceding a single goal.
Great Britain (in 1900) and Canada (in 1904) have both won the Olympic gold medal without conceding, but in those days teams played only one (1900) or two (1904) games.
Argentina's victory comes after after two unsuccessful finals appearances, falling 2-1 to Uruguay in the Amsterdam 1928 Olympic Games, and 3-2 to Nigeria in Atlanta in 1996.
Argentina had several opportunities in the first half, forcing keeper BARRETO into action twice in the eighth minute, when he saved shots from Cesar DELGADO (ARG) and Cristian GONZALEZ (ARG).
Late in the half, Andres D ALESSANDRO (ARG) and Luis GONZALEZ (ARG) shot wide, while BARRETO saved a TEVEZ cross shot in the 45th minute.
The Paraguayans went on the attack after halftime, when a direct free kick from Aureliano TORRES (PAR) was blocked by goalkeeper German LUX (ARG) in the 48th minute.
But despite a handful of chances for both sides, and some good work by both goalkeepers, there was to be no further score, even though Paraguay were reduced to nine men for the last eight minutes following the dismissal Diego FIGUEREDO for a second bookable offence. Emilio MARTINEZ had earlier been sent-off for the losing side (66 minutes).
