Participating in the first ever Olympics in women's soccer, Canada is confident of beating Argentina in its opening match in Group E.
The ninth-ranked Canadians are in the group against No. 3 Sweden, No. 14 China and No. 29 Argentina. Top two teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals along with two best third-placed teams.
"We know we can play well against the best teams in the world, we have proved that time and time again," said Canada coach Even Pellerud.
"Any one can beat any one. I know this is a boring statement but it's true," he said.
The team drew 1-1 with Olympic title favorite Brazil in July, sending a signal it is capable of competing with any team in the world.
"This team is very different and much better than last year's team," said Pellerud.
"We had a lot of health problems in 2007, but many of those players are back in the team and fitter than before. There are no big problems in my team at the moment," the coach said.
Captain Christine Sinclair was the team's all-time top scorer, with 93 goals in 122 international games. But she thought opponents can no longer concentrate on her alone.
"We have so many people that can put the ball in the back of the net," she said. "It tends to leave me a little bit wide open because teams have to focus on the other players as well."
Pellerud said while Sinclair is often on the center of spotlights, players like Melissa Tancredi, Kara Lang and Hermus are part of the team's big picture.
On the Argentina side, it qualified for the Beijing Olympics in November 2006 by beating Brazil for the first time in its history. That victory, however, seems like a distant memory now.
Just one year ago, Argentina was humiliated 11-0 by Germany in FIFA World Cup, and it needs to safeguard Argentina soccer's reputation on women side at the Olympics.
"That match no longer holds any fear for us. We've worked hard to overcome that setback," coach Carlos Borrello said. "We have lots of new players."
"We don't have a very developed system but we have strength of character," he said. "We don't know what will happen, our aim is to qualify for the next stage."
"The aim is to give a good account of ourselves and at least get past the group phase. After that, if we can get into contention for a bronze medal, all the better. We're certainly not lacking in self-belief and motivation," defender Eva Gonzalez told FIFA.com.
Canada crushed Argentina 5-0 in a tournament earlier this year, but Argentina's players were still confident of the opening game against Canada at the Olympics.
"Although they beat us 5-0, the scoreline didn't reflect how close the match actually was. We played quite well in fact," Gonzalez said.
(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2008)