THESSALONIKI, Greece, 25 August 2004 — Paraguay brought Iraq’s fairy tale Olympic run to a shuddering halt with a 3-1 win in the semifinals of the men’s soccer tournament.
Striker Jose Cardozo fired two first-half goals to stun a raucous section of around 3,000 Iraq fans in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki.
Fredy Bareiro added a third in the 68th minute for Paraguay, who will face South American rivals Argentina in Saturday’s final after the favorites swept past Italy 3-0 in Athens.
Substitute Razzaq Farhan pulled a goal back for Iraq in the 83rd minute, but it came too late to make any real difference to the outcome.
Iraq can still win only the second Olympic medal in the war-ravaged country’s history if they overcome the Italians in the third-place match on Friday.
Their only previous Olympic medal was a weightlifting bronze at the 1960 Rome Games.
“I’m very proud of my team. It’s great that the world got to see that we are not just people with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades. We also know how to compete in the Olympics,” said Rasheed Rumayed, 24, who watched the match on a television set at a Baghdad sidewalk market surrounded by fruit and vegetables.
“It’s still a great achievement even if we don’t get a chance to win the gold,” said Adnan Khadim, 26, watching the match at another sidewalk cafe in Baghdad.
Argentina Outplay Italy to Secure Easy Passage
• Favorites Argentina swept Italy aside on Tuesday to march into the final of the Olympic Games soccer tournament without having conceded a goal in five games.
The Latin Americans won 3-0, but were so dominant at times that they could have doubled that score. Italy were outclassed and had no answer to the dynamic movement and sweeping attacks of their hungry opponents who have now hit 16 goals without reply.
Argentina’s tournament-leading goalscorer Carlos Tevez opened the scoring with a volley after 16 minutes, Luis Gonzalez added the second with a thunderous shot on the run after 69 and late substitute Mariano Gonzalez converted the third, from a Tevez pass, with his first touch after 85 minutes.
Tevez now has seven goals in five games, a return that has attracted the attention of European scouts and interest from German clubs. Argentina last appeared in the Olympic final when they were beaten by Nigeria at the Atlanta Games in 1996. They are seeking their first Olympic gold medal in the sport, having twice before won silver.
