The women's tournament, on the other hand, is much easier to handicap because it uses full national teams. So, if you factor in last year's FIFA Women's World Cup in China, two-time defending world champion Germany must be considered the favorite, although it must play runner-up Brazil in its opening-round group.
The U.S., champions at the 2004 Summer Games, experienced a disappointing WWC, not playing to its potential and finishing third.
"The girls were not happy taking only third in the World Cup, so that could serve as motivation for the Olympics," U.S. coach Pia Sundhage told the Associated Press.
The U.S. women should be able to advance out of Group G against Norway in Qinhuangdao Aug. 6 at 7:45 p.m. local time (7:45 a.m. ET), Japan in Qinhuangdao Aug. 9 at 5 p.m. local time (5 a.m. ET) and New Zealand in Shenyang at 7:45 p.m. local time (7:45 a.m. ET).
"If we don't get the gold medal, I don't know if I'll have a job," Sundhage said to the AP. "That's how it is in the U.S. They have high expectations."
Sundhage's contract runs through the Olympics.
The other women's groups:
Group E -- China, Sweden, Argentina, Canada
Group F -- North Korea, Nigeria, Germany, Brazil
The top two teams in each group and two wildcard sides will advance to the Aug. 15 quarterfinals. The semifinals are Aug. 18 with the gold medal match at Worker's Stadium in Beijing Aug. 21.
Michael Lewis covers soccer for the New York Daily News and is editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He can be reached at
SoccerWriter516@aol.com. Views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
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USA OLYMPIC DRAW
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