Soccer may well declare an early start of the Olympic drama as Germany and Brazil, both favorites in the women's tournament, will fight all out in the opener to fire up their rivalry from the 2007 FIFA World Cup.
Also on the Chinese turf last year, Brazil lost out in the final against Germany. Now the story continues with the suspension that whether the Brazilians are ready to take revenge.
"The team is prepared very well. Germany is the favorite but I hope to win the game against them," forward Marta, the FIFA World Player of the Year, said in an interview with Xinhua.
The group, also featuring African champion Nigeria and Asian powerhouse the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is the undisputed "group of death", with dark horses ready to create a stir for favorites.
But the match between Athens runner-up Brazil and bronze holder Germany will draw absolutely more spotlight as the winners of the game are more likely to survive the deadly group and prove themselves stronger contenders for the Olympic gold.
"We worked very hard since the World Cup to get the place in the Olympics," said Jorge Barcellos, coach of the team. "Brazil didn't play bad (last year). We just need to improve the attack and we can't make so many mistakes as we did in that final match. "
"This is a very important match. We are going to play it as if it's the final of the Olympic Games," said another forward Daniela, who has participated in both 2000 and 2004 Olympics.
Germany has yet to lose to the Brazilians at the FIFA World Cup or the Olympics, two of the six meetings ending in draws with the Europeans winning the rest. They didn't meet in the last Olympic Games.
If there is anything World Cup champion Germany is still interested in to add to its trophy collection, it would also be the Olympic gold medal. The team finished third in both Sydney and Athens and this time they are setting to fill the blank.
Silvia Neid's side in this Olympiad has 16 players who participated in last World Cup, including goalie Nadine Angerer, defender Ariane Hingst, midfielder Renate Lingor, and forward Birgit Prinz.
"Of course we'd like to win Brazil again, but both teams are balanced and have their own strength and weakness," Neid said.
The only problem with the current powerful German squad is that they may need plenty of new blood to replenish, with six aging over 30 and two 29. But such an experienced team will be treated as the No.1 contender to the champion by any team in the tournament.
The Germans didn't hide their ambition to repeat their perfect winning streak to the gold medal without conceding a goal in last World Cup. "We will try to do so again, and you know, our defense is strong," Neid said, adding that there are a lot of difficulties and last year's World Cup might be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2008)