Sergio Aguero confirmed his status as one of the world's greatest talents when he sent Argentina through to the Olympic final in a 3-0 triumph at the expense of Brazil. Dunga's team were uninspiring for much of the semi-final but the convincing defeat ended their hopes of landing their maiden gold medal in the men's football at the Olympics. The Argentinian stars were able to turn on the style over their South American rivals as the scoreline clearly indicates.
The semi-final witnessed one of the most famous and fearce rivalries in football, but one country had to prevail. Barcelona starlet Lionel Messi was just one of a number of players who inspired their country to victory and left their Brazilian counterparts ruing their performance. Sergio Aguero's goal on 52 minutes broke the deadlock and a second only six minutes later tilted the advantage firmly into the hands of the Argentinians. The third goal that sentenced Brazil to defeat was from the spot, converted by Riquelme on 75 minutes. Brazil were not only wounded by this resounding loss as Lucas saw red for an ugly fowl on fellow Liverpool teammate Javier Mascherano. Thiago Neves was dismissed in similar fashion that reduced Brazil to only 9 men. A Ronaldinho free-kick which hit the post and a goal ruled offside by Alexandre Pato were Brazil's main highlights of the match.
Argentina will hope to be the first team in Olympic history to successfully defend the men's football gold medal, and they will face Nigeria in the final. Captain Javier Mascherano was thrilled by his country's performance, saying "It was the greatest game for everyone and fortunately we managed to win it. We haven't achieved anything yet, but beating Brazil with a result like this is wonderful."
Nigeria will provide the competition for the gold medal as they overcame Belgian opposition 4-1 to advance to the last stage. Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi was involved in the scoring as he netted twice in Shanghai. The other goalscorers were Olubayo Adefemi, who opened the scoring after 17 minutes, and Chibuzor Okonkwo as he condemned Belgium to a third place play-off. Belgium scored a consolation goal through substitute Laurent Ciman but their fate had already been sealed. Coach Samson Siasia was ecstatic and was optimistic of his team achieving the main prize, "It was unbelievable. You just have to look at the scoreboard. We are going for gold."
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