Australia's Olyroos had every right to hold their heads high as they walked off the pitch after being defeated 1:0 by reigning champions Argentina in their men's soccer group A game.
In the post-match press conference, Australia's head coach Graham Arnold spoke highly of his team's performance.
"I'm very satisfied with our players' performance. They did a great job. Our defense was well-organized and we gave very little space to opponents," said Arnold.
Argentina controlled the play for most of the game but it was the Australian's counter-attacks that looked the more threatening. They missed three clear chances to break the deadlock before Lavezzi scored the winner for Argentina.
"You can't afford to waste so many chances playing against a team like Argentina. But if we keep playing like this, we can definitely beat Ivory Coast in our last match," Arnold said.
"I think we should be proud of what we did today. The Argentines are the defending champions. They have top players like Messi and Riquelme. But we have shown we are also a good team," said Australian captain Mark Milligan.
In another Group A game, Ivory Coast beat Serbia 4-2, which means Australia must beat the west African side in their final group match to have any chance of qualifying for the next round.
(China.org.cn by Xiang Bin, August 11, 2008)