With defending champions Argentina likely to dominate Group A of the Olympic men's football tournament, Australia and Serbia are taking each other as the primary hurdle to advance to the quarterfinals.
"We're not looking past the first opponents Serbia in the first game of a three-game qualifying group. It is very important to get a result," Australia coach Graham Arnold told a press conferencein Shanghai?on Tuesday, warning his men of Serbia's physical strength.
"We'll have to pick out their biggest and tallest side because Serbia are huge. They've got six or seven players who are 6ft 4in, as well as the goalkeeper. We've got to be careful not to give away any silly free kicks."
Arnold's remarks invited retorts at a succeeding conference where Serbia coach Miroslav Djukic claimed that the Olyroos were actually larger in size. Djukic believed that his boys, mostly from U21 squad, were not as physically menacing as Australia had thought.
"They (the Australians) are a strong and tough team and have prepared for two years," said Djukic. He added that his team observed Australia many times on DVD for their weak points, which he wouldn't reveal until the end of their first head-to-head clash on Thursday.
While worried about each other's height predominance, the two coaches also shared something, that is, no use talking about taming Argentina.
Too exquisite to be taken into tactic consideration of the other teams, Argentina has driven Australia and Serbia desperate to kick off their campaign by notching three points.
Both were potential dark horses behind Argentina, with Australia eager for the first medal at their sixth successive Olympic Games, and Serbia determined not to repeat their nightmare at the 2004 Athens Games when they lost all three group matches.
(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2008)