2008 Olympic Draw?

2008 Olympic Draw?

Does anybody know if the olympic football draw is going to be live on FIFA.com? It's being made  at 7pm Beijing time - 11pm NZ time - tonight (Sunday).

http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/sports/headlines/football/footbaldrawlot/

Our womans team has the Australian flag beside it.  

New Zealand�s 2008 Olympic Games calendar:

Date     NZ time            Venue                          Football Ferns v.

6th        9.00pm            Qinhuangdao                Japan

9th        11.45pm          Qinhuangdao                Norway

12th      11.45pm          Shenyang                      USA

15th      Quarter-finals

18th      Semi-finals

21st      Medal matches

 

Date     NZ time            Venue                          OlyWhites v.

7th        11.45pm          Shenyang                      China

10th      9.00pm            Shenyang                      Brazil

13th      11.45pm          Shanghai                       Belgium

16th      Quarter-finals

19th      Semi-finals

22nd      Bronze medal match

23rd      Gold medal match

Ferns have a tough draw, I think the OllyWhites could upset China and maybe Belgium.

that ferns draw does look tough

Tough for the Football Ferns, they'll probably target Japan for a good result and hope for the best against Norway and the US.

The OllyWhites group is quite interesting, but is probably too tough. Belgium have been on the slide for the last few years, and I doubt their Olympic team will have their best players anyway, so that looks to me like a game to target. China will to do well being the hosts, so I expect them to have a strong squad, and they'll also ensure that they get every (legal) competetive edge they can get. Whatever team Brazil send they'll be difficult to get anything out of for the OWs.

How many senior players are allowed in? Scottishbhoy2008-04-21 10:32:03

Allowed... and three.

He must have said aloud because only the senior players can yell on the pitch?el grapadura2008-04-21 10:31:53

It's holidays.. Enough said ;)

Do the womans olympic teams get three senior players as well?

For those who think the Football Ferns draw is tough, I'm just glad we avoided the "Group of Death"!

So I take it  Nelsen, Killen and Elliot will go?

They are the senior team.

I think we will comfortably trounce Brazil.....

Chinese football teams tend to fold under pressure. And in this case they will be under a LOT of pressure. They also use some strange tactics at times, a case in point being the recent WC qualifier against an under-strength Australia in Kunming, when having the odds stacked in their favour they decided to sit back and defend.

Extended squad gets announced later this week but I would be surprised to see Elliot's name there.

Why not Smeltzy or Super Leo?

Five to be named in tne extended squad.  Nelsen, Killen, Elliott, Smeltz, Lochhead

They had it on 3 news last night. 1 news didnt cover it though.

This could be a dumb question but since when have the all whites been called the oly whites, and why?

All Whites are the Senior Side, U-23's the Oly Whites.

Oh okay cheers... So they have an under 23 tournament in the olympics?

Yes. 

The mens tournament at Olympic level is Under-23.  You qualify with an U-23 side and then you can add three overage players to your actual squad for the Olympic games.

The Womens tournament has no age restrictions.

Ahh okay, that all makes sense now, cheers for clearing that up.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... I think they should take Moss as one of the over 23's. There is a fair chance they'll need a good keeper, and with Nelsen at the back and Killen (or Smeltz) up front that would be as good a backbone as NZ are likely to put together.

There is logic to that argument S2art. I think Moss would be a significant upgrade to Spoonley (assuming he produces his Phoenix form) and if you consider that we are most likely to be the least dominate team and face a barrage then that would be handy

I would disagree I think that aside from professional football experience Moss is not that much better than Spoonley and when you compare how much better Nelsen is to our best defender which i wouldnt even know who it is or how much better Killen is than say Ellenhson, Costa etc or Elliot is to our MF such as Peverly then it is smarter to get 3 outfield players. I mean they are hardly going to touch the ball against Brazil but they should get a bit of possession against China and Belgium and having  a midfielder and killen up front would be hander. What sort of line ups can you come up with?

Spoonley (Solid at WC on the big stage)

RB (Scott (captain in Fiji) Jenkins)? Nelsen, Old (Had good tournament), LB(Probably why Lockhead is on overage player shortlist)(Who played there is qualifying Tinkler)?

Peverly (Solid for in NZFC and sounded like played well in qualifiers, WC Experience) anchoring Henderson (Good allround player, WC Experience), Elliot

Costa in the Hole (Sounds like he was good in Fiji, WC Experience),

Killen, Ellenhson (Been useful in 1st half of NZFC but not much to show in final)

Bench take your pick from Brockie (good when confident but lacking of late, WC & A League Experience), Reserve GK (Little, Bell, O'Keefe), Van Rooyen (Played a bit in Qualifiers), Draper (Good prospect yet to produce any goods, WC Experience), Tinkler (Good player but has struggled of late in NZFC), Jenkins (Technically good & quick and has been solid for in NZFC, WC Experience), Matthews (Didnt feature much in qualifying unsure how he has played for Auckland), Hayne ( Didnt play much in qualifying and hardly plays NZFC), Boxall (Decent showing in WC last year physically good)

Dont know who else I forgot but theres 22 players that may be in the mix. I doubt James will be involved after the WC saga but who knows.

This is assuming Keat is out which looks likely

How would you feel if you were dropped for an over-ager, after helping the team qualify?

Think I'd be pretty pissed if an overager took my spot to go, maybe not so annoyed if I still toured but wasn't in the starting lineup.

Pretty sure I heard he's been released by SUnderland

Other observations:

1, Chris James made himself unavailable for the Olympics.

2, I doubt the Welsh Premier League is much better than the NZFC, and even if it was slightly better how could you pick a player in a league you can't judge ?

3, Boxall > Pelter anyway.  If Boxall had a European in he'd have been there first, instead he's at US College.

4, Peverley is a much more defensively minded midfielder (anyone who saw him nose to nose with Leilei Gao on Wednesday will tell you), he's no wide player.

5, Nelsen was all over the media here last week saying he desperately wanted to go and he'd made it clear to club management.

What's the story with Chris James?  And has Pelter shown any interest in playing in the Olympics, or was he picked in the squad? loyalgunner2008-06-02 19:34:52

Pelter was in the squad. 

No idea on James just know he never made himself available, no idea why not.

Still think Aaron Scott is a better rb than most -solid, fast, good in the air and can tackle

Agree fc.

And he can play two games at a  good level in three days as  he has his weekend

Plus flights and a game against the Phoenix last Wednesday.

Good win for Melville today incidentally.

Much better performance too - out played bay olympic in first half and overall deserved the win