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 The
first official men's Olympic soccer tournament dates back to the
1908 London Games, where Great Britain defeated Denmark to claim
the first soccer gold medal. Since that time soccer has been
part of every Olympic Games Program, with the exception of the
1932 Los Angeles Games. The 1940 and 1944 Olympic Games were
cancelled completely due to the political tensions surrounding
World War II.
The United States
has competed in the men's Olympic finals 12 times, including
five straight tournaments from 1984 to 2000. In addition, the
U.S. qualified for but did not compete in the 1980 Moscow Games
following a boycott by the U.S. Olympic Committee. The U.S.
missed out on qualifying for the 2004 Athens Olympics, winning
their group but then losing a one-game qualifying match against
Mexico at Estadio Azteca in Mexico after the Mexicans had
finished in second in their group.
 For the U.S.
women, Olympic gold show twice for the team, with first place
medals in 1996 in Atlanta and in 2004 in Athens.
Up
until and including the 1988 Seoul Games, the Olympic soccer
tournament was an unrestricted event and the the U.S. Olympic
Soccer Team was essentially the U.S. National Team. However the
tournament structure has changed since that times and the
restrictions on age and experience of players involved in
Olympic competition has been under review by FIFA, who makes all
tournament recommendations to the International Olympic
Committee (IOC).
The 1992
Barcelona Games proved to be the turning point in the Olympic
soccer tournament, when the men's tournament was competed as an
under-23 event for the first time. Host Spain captured the title
at Barcelona's famous Nou Camp Stadium in front of 95,000
jubilant fans. Spain's progress in the tournament aided
struggling attendances in 1992, which were far lower than
expected. There is little doubt that the poor attendance in
Spain played a role in the changes made for the 1996 Atlanta
Games.
Not only did
Atlanta '96 signify the first time women's soccer was included
in the Olympic Program, but the men's tournament adapted from
its under-23 format in 1992 to include three "wild card"
players. "Wild card" players were those players who either over
23 years of age or had previously played in an Olympic Games
soccer tournament. Claudio Reyna (who was eligible in 1996, but
had competed for the U.S. in 1992), Kasey Keller and Alexi Lalas
were the USA's overage players in 1996.
In 2000, veteran
defenders Jeff Agoos and Frankie Hejduk, as well as goalkeeper
Brad Friedel, were selected as the USA's overage players,
helping the team on an unprecedented tournament run which saw
the U.S. advance to the medal round before falling in the
semifinals to a strong Spanish team.
The U.S. Women's
National Team claimed the inaugural gold medal at the Atlanta
Games with a 2-1 victory over China before76,481 fans on August
1, 1996 in Athens, Georgia. The attendance mark, which at the
time was the largest crowd to ever watch a women's athletic
event, set the stage for the incredibly successful FIFA Women's
World Cup staged in the U.S. in 1999. The gold medal victory
culminated an impressive five-game undefeated run through the
tournament in which the U.S. Women played in front of packed
crowds.
As they did in
1996, the U.S. Women has a strong run to the medal stand in
2000, winning the "Group of Death" that included China, Nigeria
and Norway. In the Gold Medal match, a spunky Norwegian team
refused to yield and eventually took home the gold with a
thrilling 3-2 overtime triumph.
The 2004 Athens
Games were a fitting end for a number of U.S. veterans,
including Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and Joy Fawcett, who went out of
the sport as they came into it: as champions. The never-say-die
team who both their semifinal and final matches in overtime,
courtesy of a Heather O'Reilly strike against Germany and an
Abby Wambach goal against Brazil to claim the gold.
Men's Olympic Soccer
Tournament |
