The Olympic football tournaments -
Overall analysis

Ladies First

Since there was not time to hold a qualifying tournament, the eight best teams at the Women's World Cup in 1995 were automatically selected for the Olympic tournament. The only exception was the inclusion of Brazil in place of England (who, under the regulations of the International Olympic Committee would have had to compete as Great Britain), and the late substitutes proved their worth...

Concacaf - greatest success thanks to the US-girls

The USA National Olympic Committee had declared the girls' team as potential gold medal winners and invested a lot of money in their preparation. The pressure was on them, but there was also a lot of sympathetic support from the spectators, which helped them live up to their role as favourites. The team earned its success with excellent performances in every game. They were a homogeneous, experienced side and went into each match with unrivalled determination and enthusiasm. In addition, they had in the person of coach Tony DiCicco someone who gave them the necessary self-confidence and who supported them whenever he could, putting them in the spotlight of their success.

Asia - great differences in class

The efforts of the Chinese association were at last rewarded when they won the silver medal. Shi Guihong (no. 15) made her contribution with two goals in the group games.

China gave an impressive demonstration of the steady progress that they have been making during recent years. Only the buoyant Americans managed to stop them in the final. Up to that stage they had gone from success to success (the only game they did not win was the group game against the USA). Speed, fighting spirit and quick team play were the hallmarks of coach Ma Yuanan's team. They also came to this competition with much more self-confidence than they had shown on previous occasions. They had missed the medals in the last two World Cups, but this time they were rewarded.

The verdict on the other Asian team, Japan, is very different. They almost pulled off the kind of coup against Germany that their male counterparts had achieved against Brazil. But their flagging strength did not enable them to come out on top against the reigning World Cup runners-up. They failed to confirm this level of performance in their remaining games and without scoring any further goals they faded from the competition. No progress was discerned compared to the World Cup in 1995.

Europe surrenders its dominant position

The showdown meeting on 1.8.1996 between the two best teams in the tournament ended with a narrow but deserved victory for the American girls. Tisha Venturini (no. 15) and Liu Ailing (no. 10) anticipating the ball.

Although Norway produced the expected strong performance and had the Americans on the verge of defeat, Europe lost its dominance in women's football. The current world champions were the only team to come up to expectation and win a medal. This team was particularly strong in terms of its smoothly operating system, its teamwork, physical fitness and the individual skills of players like Linda Medalen or Ann Kristin Aarones (both scored 4 goals). Thanks to the uniform level within the squad, they were able to compensate for the absence of Heidi Stoere (injured in the first group game).

The other European teams were disappointing. Before their last group game, Germany had the best chance of getting through to the semifinals. But in the second half they were not able to subdue the surprising Brazilian team and obtain what on paper form should have been a comfortable victory. One of the reasons for their early departure was the failure of some key players to reach top form. Sweden and Denmark were well wide of the mark; although drawn in a strong group with the USA and China, more was expected from two teams that not long ago were counted among the strongest in women's football. While Sweden managed to keep up to some extent and in Pia Sundhage provided one of the most eye-catching personalities in the tournament, Denmark, the youngest team on view, had to go home without a point or a goal to their credit. Their only consolation is that in view of the youth of their team, with continual development there could be better times ahead.

South America - the rise of Brazil

Composure and experience; two qualities that enabled Brazilian goalkeeper Meg to stand out.

Their disappointing performance at the World Cup in Sweden prompted the Brazilian association to take action. A new coaching staff was appointed and five new players were integrated into the team. With seven months of daily training as part of their build-up (not on Sundays), the team was honed into a unit that made the jump into the world's elite. Individual ball skills, good competitive spirit and a balanced mixture of youth and experience were the strengths shown by these Brazilian artists. Although their combination play did not run to perfection in attack, the skills of Pretinha, who ended up level with the established players Medalen and Aarones (both Norway) in the goal-scorers' list, helped make amends. They certainly created a surprise, and it remains to be seen whether they will be able to confirm this performance in future tournaments. It is to be hoped that this success will put women's football firmly on the map in South America.

The absence of Africa and Oceania

Because of the selection modus (the first eight teams from the Women's World Cup 1995) for the Olympic games, there were no teams from Africa or Oceania at Atlanta '96. Several African associations have indicated that they wish to promote women's football more, and similar intentions have been voiced in Oceania. FIFA hopes that these plans are carried out and that all six confederations will be represented at the next round of this important tournament.

Closing up at the top

The semifinal between Norway and the USA - the picture shows Nymark Anderson (no. 4) and Tiffeny Milbrett (no. 16) fighting for the ball - was among the highlights of the tournament.

The differences in level between the teams have become smaller in women's football too. Development is being pushed hard in many national associations. In 1991 there were three European teams in the semi-finals, in 1995 the number was down to two. The four teams at this stage in the first women's Olympic tournament came from four different continents.

In the USA, the women's game is at least as popular as the men's; for some time now there has been discussion about forming a professional league. In Norway, football is the No. 1 women's sport in terms of the number of players; youth schemes for girls between 7 and 19 involving some 4000 teams have been in existence for several years. In Germany there are about 50,000 registered players and 1,250 women referees. China's population is identifying more and more with the country's active lady players, who with their successes are slowly outstripping their menfolk in this sport. And finally, in Brazil where the game has been an exclusively male domain, the national association has started to encourage popular interest in women's football too.

Trends in other confederations and countries indicate that women can also play the game more intensively and more ambitiously. For this reason, the Executive Committee of FIFA has decided to increase the number of participants for the next World Cup (1999, in the USA) from 12 to 16 teams. Yet another reason for national associations to intensify their efforts to promote the development of women's football.

Coaching the women is (still) a man's job

Not one of the teams had a woman coach, and only three had a female coach's assistant at all. But this will soon change: the Swedish and German national associations have plans to employ women coaches. With the retirement of Bengt Simonson, the Swedes will have his long-term assistant Marik Domanski-Lyfors in charge, and a similar change will take place in Germany when Gero Bisanz steps down and hands over to Tina Theune-Meyer.

Technical/tactical analysis

The lady goalkeepers earned a positive rating. But one limitation was controlling the penalty area. Here America's Briana Scurry attempts to deal with a dangerous situation against Norway, assisted by Carla Overbeck.

Tactically, progress was noted in nearly every team. Even the weaker ones showed themselves capable of sticking to a definite system for the full duration of a game. The result was a smaller number of sweeping victories, which had still been a feature of the World Cup in 1995 and even more so back in 1991. The main reason for this is the more professional environment. Not only did each delegation in Atlanta have a full complement of staff (coach, assistant coach, physio, doctor, secretary, equipment specialist) but the national associations had devoted more time and money to their team's preparation. There was hardly a team that had not spent some time in the USA to get used to the climatic conditions.

Teams from other continents had been observed and comparisons made. The organisation of national leagues is becoming more of an important topic. The demands made of players, and hence the selection criteria, have risen (a player in the international team can count on some 40 matches per season, national and international, and between 9 and 12 hours training per week).

The tactical plan of most teams was a 1-2-5-2, with a libero playing back, two central defenders, usually three defensive and two offensive midfielders plus two strikers. The only exception was Norway who varied their set-up according to the opponent and the state of the game (4-5-1 via 4-4-2 to and offensive 4-3-3). Denmark started out differently by trying to play without a libero, but changed their plan after some bad results and ended the tournament employing their usual tactical formation. The USA also showed flexibility in their chosen tactics. While the composition and organisation of the defensive block remained the same, the number of midfielders went from 4 to 5 at the cost of the third striker.

Room for improvement in standard situations

As in the men's game there was evidence of a need here too for improvement in standard situations. Only 9 goals (17%), including one penalty, resulted from dead ball situations (Sweden '95: 24%). On the one hand this is an indication of improved tactical organisation in defence, but on the other it points to a lack of creative ideas in attack.

Only three goals conceded in five matches; a proud achievement for the American goalkeeper Briana Scurry, who naturally had help in this matter from the excellent US defence.

Heading has improved in comparison to pervious years. Both timing and power are now noticeably better. The improved physical fitness of all the teams was another positive trend as well as their better individual technical skills. While in earlier competitions some players had proved capable of deciding a match on their own, it was now the homogeneity within a team that was the decisive factor. The three medal-winning teams, USA, China and Norway, were outstanding in this respect with hardly a weak point being noticeable, and their solidarity and teamwork were exemplary. By contrast there were still teams whose results depended very much on the form of individual players (Brazil with Pretinha and Roseli, Sweden with Sundhage and Videkull, Germany with Mohr, Neid and Voss or Denmark with Helle Jensen, who was unfortunately handicapped by her injury).

The following section is an interpretation and analysis of the individual positions.

Goalkeeper

The goalkeepers' performances were good overall. Few goals were totally the result of a serious error on the goalkeeper's part. The skills of catching and punching the ball have improved; and in one-on-one situations the goalkeeper usually came off best. What could be improved is command of the penalty area and vocal instructions to defenders. And plain footballing skills should also be trained more. The best on view were Meg (Brazil), Dorthe Larsen (Denmark, despite conceding 11 goals), Annelie Nilsson (Sweden), and one who did show talent out on the field, Bente Nordby (Norway).

Defence

The only yellow/red card of the women's Olympic tournament went to Agnete Carlsen of Norway for this foul on Mia Hamm (USA) in the semifinal.

Except for the USA (chain of three) and Norway (chain of four), all the teams used a libero and two central defenders. The free player at the back seldom joined in with attacking moves. The offside trap was hardly used as a tactical manoeuvre, and opposing strikers were generally marked on a zone basis. Technically, an improvement in skills in this part of the team was noted - the stricter interventions of the referees for unfair play made this a necessary development. The top teams were noticeable for their ability to switch smartly from defence to attack.

The USA and Norway, and China to some extent, were the only teams to use pressing tactics over the whole pitch. Spaces were closed down and the defensive players often moved up to the centre-line. This required a lot of physical effort, but these three teams were capable of delivering it.

The outstanding defenders were Elane (Brazil), Wen Lirong (China), both playing libero, plus Espeseth (Norway), Overbeck (USA) and Bengtsson (Sweden).

Midfield

A healthy fighting spirit was the foundation of the Brazilian's success. Suzy (no. 3) typified the teams's attitude with an uncompromising effort against the Norwegian striker Linda Medalen (no. 10).

Most of the teams used five players in midfield. A libero in front of the defence was a common sight. This position was the one that striker-by-trade Michelle Akers (top scorer in 1991 with 10 goals) took over. In decisive games her coach played her in defensive midfield, believing that with her experience and strength in the air this would be the position in which she could be of most value to the team.

In women's football the role of playmaker is still prominent. Above all, the weaker teams had a typical "number 10" in their ranks, via whom nearly all attacks would be started and who would have greater or lesser influence on the team's overall play according to the strength of the opponent. A homogenous midfield however was the recipe used by the stronger teams, who were thus more flexible and less predictable in their moves.

It was the quality of the midfield that decided which team would end up winning a match. As an example the final between the USA and China can be taken, when coach DiCicco saw in the second half that the Chinese were gaining the upper hand in this department. By altering his team's tactics he made it possible for them to tip the balance in midfield and control the game in the build up phase.

The most talented players here were Liu Ailing and Zhao Lihong (China), Hege Riise and Agnete Carlsen (Norway), Pia Sundhage (Sweden) and the entire American midfield axis.

Attack

While there is still room for improvement, the women have made great progress in heading, in comparison to previous years.

Almost 60% of the goals were scored by strikers (49% in the men's tournament). Thus goalscoring seems to remain largely the job of the strikers in women's football. At the top of the list of scorers were Medalen, Aarones, Pretinha, Sun Qingmei and MacMillan who all scored three or more times.

The strikers were worthy of the name, well supported by their midfielders. However none of the players listed above was the typical goalgetter, simply waiting around for chances to develop. These all showed individual skills which enabled them either to go for goal themselves or to create opportunities by combining with a partner. Speed, strong shooting and good dribbling were the hallmarks of the best of these players.

Facts

An exciting battle in the air between Asa Jakobsson (SWE, no. 3) and Michelle Akers (USA).

With an average of 3.31 goals per game (total 53) the strike rate was a bit lower than during the World Cup 1995 (3.81) per game. The main reason for this was the even standard between the teams which ruled out any runaway scores. 58.5% of the goals were recorded by strikers, which is a little higher than in Sweden (54.*%). The best time for scoring seemed to be in the middle of the second half (61st-75th minute) when 13 were notched up (24.5%). This is a little surpris-ing since in previous tournaments the last quarter of an hour had been the most pro-ductive (including the World Cup 1995 with 26 goals or 26%). Brazil was the team for the second half - all their goals came after the interval.

A total of 31 players got their names on the score sheet (plus two own goals). Twelve of them scored more than once and three got four apiece (Medalen, Aarones and Pretinha). The best providers of the final pass were Sun Qingmei (China) and Roseli (Brazil), with four assists. On seven occasions coaches were inspired with their choice of substitute, with the player coming on notching up a goal.

The region between the goal area and the penalty spot is still the one where most goals originate (27 attempts from this range (37.7%) were successful, but nearly as many goals (18 or 34%) came from efforts from beyond the penalty spot.

The importance of the first goal was emphasised once again. In the 15 matches that did not end 0:0, the team scoring first won on 12 occa-sions; two ended as draws and only once did a team come back from being 0:1 down to win the game (USA vs Norway in the semifinal).

In conclusion, tribute should be paid yet again to the victorious American team. Spurred on by their determination to win, the home favourites justified expectations despite all the pressure. They were taken to the limit by Norway and then by China, and these two teams also played a strong part in making the decision to hold a Women's Olympic tournament a correct one. Compliments are due too to all the other teams; despite the climatic conditions and the early kick-off times, their performances proved that the trend in women's football is still upwards.

A first for Nigeria

The Nigerians were also clearly number one in celebrating. By means of acrobatics (Celestine Babayaro)...

Africa's march to the forefront of world football continues. For some years now, youth teams from this continent have been up with the very best; now they have given an impressive demonstration that at the next level up, the U-23 category, they can beat the world. That it was Nigeria who would be the first African team to win Olympic gold is no accident. The squad was made up almost exclusively of players under contract in Europe and studded with well-known names. The selectors were successful in integrating the three older and more experienced players, Uche, Amunike (despite injury problems) and Amokachi smoothly into the team. In addition to their expected technical qualities, the team's strong morale was a major factor in their success. Set-backs or goals against them did not knock them off course, but rather spurred them on to greater efforts, as both the South American favourites, Brazil (semifinal) and Argentina learned to their cost.

Africa's progress

... or gesticulation (goalkeeper Jospeh Dosu) they let their feelings out in no uncertain matter.

In addition to Nigeria, Ghana made a positive impression. With the youngest team in the competition next to Nigeria and Japan, their performance confirmed the development that has been evident at U-17 and U-20 levels. Not yet ready for major honours perhaps, because of weaknesses in the areas of tactics and discipline, the team showed that once their officials can get these factors under control their individual skills are good enough to be earning the double U-17 world champions and U-20 finalists a place among the medals in the very near future.

Tunisia on the other hand were a disappointment right down the line. With the exception of the second half against Argentina they lacked creativity, showed little desire to attack and were low on self confidence. Despite having ten current national team members in their ranks and national coach Kasperczak (Poland) in charge, there was never any indication that this side would qualify for the next round. Symptomatic of their problems was the fact that after two key players were injured in the first game, the National Olympic Committee did not make use of the rule allowing substitute players who were standing by to be flown in.

South America shows its class

For the first time at an Olympic tournament "alternate" players allowed - substitutes who could be nominated to replace ill or injured team mates in the squad. Portugal's Nuno Afonso (no. 20, here battling against Brazil's Aldair) replaced the injured Litos for the last two games.

Although neither of them won the gold they'd hoped for, Argentina and Brazil once again showed their class. Both in the group games and in the quarter and semifinals, Argentina, under national coach Passarella, clearly dominated their opponents. They could have won the final too. For a long period they were the better side and after being 2:1 ahead had chances to settle the match. But these were not taken and a tactical error in defence meant that they had to be content with "only" silver.

Brazil, strengthened by the inclusion of World Cup winners Bebeto and Aldair, made a hesitant start to the tournament. But bringing in Ronaldinho for the second match led to goals being scored from their many chances. A steady improvement from then on carried Brazil smoothly into the semifinals, and there too everything at first went according to plan. They were 3:1 up, but failed to hold on to their lead, and in extra time the now exuberant Nigerians got the winner, which sent the South American team into temporary despair. It says a lot for the players and officials that they managed to come out of this depression and put on a spectacular show with lots of goals in the match for third place, much to the liking of the enthusiastic American spectators.

Europe gets food for thought

Two stars with different jobs and different levels of success: Brazilian striker Ronaldhino (no. 18 above) whose 5 goals put him second on the tournament goalscoring list, and keeper Gianluca Pagliuca (ITA, no. 1) whose team went out after the group games.

The results in recent age-limited categories were confirmed: at younger levels Europe's once dominant position has been lost. Only one team managed to qualify for the semifinals, and two went out after the group games. In terms of football skills only France looked convincing, with Spain sparking from time to time. In terms of results, Portugal came off best by reaching the semifinal, but their play was not much of a display of skilful football. They were unlucky with injuries, lacked any player personalities in the team, and so they only just reached the second round (at the expense of the USA), and then were lucky to qualify for the semifinal with a Golden Goal in extra time against France. In their final two matches they were dominated by Argentina and Brazil and conceded seven goals without reply.

The French team were tactically very well organised and the squad was homogeneous. They qualified easily for the second round, and in the quarterfinal they dominated Portugal for long stretches but failed to put away their chances. For their efforts, what they achieved was a poor reward; considering their performance, an early trip home was a real disappointment.

The Spanish team contained some of the big names in Spanish football, players who parade their skills in the league back home week after week. But at the Olympics they were not able to put their talents together for the good of the team, and in fact coach Clemente did not include them in his starting line up all the way through (De la Pena). The team impressed in terms of good collective play and flexible tactical organisation. Thanks to a rousing finish in their last group game they managed to get into the quarterfinals, but at that stage they were no match for Argentina.

The other two teams (European U-21 champions Italy, and Hungary) both disappointed. Hungary's qualification for the Olympics was itself a bit of a surprise, but Italy's poor showing was not easy to understand.

Concacaf's limits

Mexico's Jorge Campos was one of the first goalkeepers to show talent out on the field. He is happy either stopping goals at one end or scoring them himself at the other.

Mexico's results were in line with their ability. In a difficult group, they managed to qualify, in fact winning the group, but were pretty lucky to do so with just two goals in their three games. In the quarterfinal, Nigeria were too strong for the Central Americans, who included the flamboyant goalkeeper Jorge Campos in their squad. As usual they were technically impressive and their combined play was good. But a lack of efficiency in finishing and weaknesses one-on-one were their negative points.

As tournament hosts, the USA had the honour of playing in the opening match against Argentina, and earned the distinction of scoring the fastest ever goal at an Olympic tournament. But their rejoicing was not long lived and despite performing well they did not make it into the second round. Neither the establishment of MLS (Major League Soccer) in April 1996 nor the strengthening of the team with players having overseas experience (Keller, Lalas - the latter now back in the USA after his stint with Padua (Italy) and Reyna helped them make up for the overall lack of international experience. A surprise was on the cards for a while in the final group game against Portugal, but not putting away chances cost them their opportunity of beating one of the favourites in the first round.

Asia makes progress, but...

Jospeh Dosu (Nigeria) demonstrates that goalkeepers can play out on the field as well to Argentina's Claudio Lopez (no. 7).

With two wins behind them, Japan had to go home. This was a great disappointment for the players from the Land of the Rising Sun, who began the tournament with a sensational win against Brazil and ended it with two goals in three minutes to record an impressive win over Hungary. Yet because of their poorer goal difference compared with Brazil and Nigeria they once again missed the cut for the next round. This was a stylish team and their attractive play was enjoyed by the spectators. The J-League seems to have given the young players the necessary competitive experience, and perhaps in future tournaments they will achieve total and not just partial success.

Korea's showing was less impressive, and yet they too only just missed qualifying for the second round. A lack of creativity and not being definite enough in their attacking play were their main shortcomings, and they failed to please their fans. The will to succeed was clearly there, but the way in which they went about the task was not satisfactory.

Australia's tactics

Australia wanted to emulate the performance of their previous Olympic team in Barcelona and write Olympic history. But various factors stopped them from achieving their aim. For one, the players in Atlanta '96 did not match up to the quality of the 1992 squad, and for another, tactics dictated by the coaching department included some decisions that were very hard to comprehend.

Bebeto (BRA, no. 7, here with Nigeria's Obaraku) lived up to expectations by scoring six goals and topping the scorer's list. He was a superb captain for his young team and an example for them in every respect.

Flexible use of the age regulations

While Barcelona 1992 had been a purely U-23 tournament, the IOC had convinced FIFA in the meantime of the need for some relaxation of the age regulation, and so for 1996 three players over 23 were allowed per team. Not all the associations made use of this offer. France and Japan for example, who wanted their younger players to get competitive experience with an eye on the World Cups coming up in 1998 and 2002, decided voluntarily not to use older players (with the exception of Dieng, whom the French called up later as an "alternate"); Hungary and Spain did the same. But the four teams who reached the semifinals, Nigeria, Argentina, Brazil and Portugal, all took advantage of the new regulation and perhaps the extra experience of the older players made the difference at critical moments. On the other hand, teams like Australia, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia used over-23s as well and they ended up in positions 13,14, and 15 at the end of the tournament. In all 37 out of a possible 48 places were given to older players (4 goalkeepers, 15 defenders, 8 midfielders and 10 strikers).

National team coaches looking after the juniors

Seven national A team trainers took personal charge of their country's Olympic squads. Many of the players taking part in Atlanta will certainly be found in the national team selections in the near future. France 1998 is the next major step on the ladder to success for these youngsters, and the qualifying games have already started for most of the teams. For these coaches, the Olympic tournament provided an opportunity to see how their future players coped in a serious competition, how they handled the training and the stress (tight schedule, climate, travelling, etc.) and also gave them the chance to work with them under these conditions.

Technical/Tactical analysis

Argentina went for experience in defence. José Chamot, who is under contract at Lazio Rome (Italy) was one of the two over-23 players in the South American's defence, the other being Sensini.

True, the favourites managed to come through in Atlanta '96, but they were given a hard fight by some of the ambitious challengers. The African teams have now made great progress on the tactical side too. With the coming of the J-League and other professional competitions, there has been an upswing in Asia, which is now making itself noticeable at national level and in other selected teams. CONCACAF teams are always good for a surprise or two. The MLS in the USA should give players engaged there the necessary experience and competitive edge, which ought to help them to hold their own at the top level in international competition too. European representatives would do well to look carefully at the performances of their teams, and at youth levels especially to intensify their development efforts.

No really innovative ideas were expected and none were seen. The trend away from playing with a libero and two man-markers in favour of a 4-man defensive line has continued but not yet taken over. Both systems were favoured by about half of the teams in Atlanta.

Goalkeepers

Five out of the total of 37 over-23 players were goalkeepers. Among them was America's Kasey Keller, shown here in a superb action scene against Argentina. He first came to prominence on the international scene in 1989, when he was voted third best player at the World Youth Cup in Saudi Arabia.

There were two goalkeepers with World Cup experience taking part, Gianluca Pagliuca and Jorge Campos, and both lived up to their reputations, though the Inter keeper's team were on the whole a real disappointment.

The new format for goalie training, made necessary by the back pass rule, is already beginning to have results at junior level. Now not only are the skills of catching and fisting the ball practised, but also outfield player training is included - a development that the rest of the team are happy to see.

Despite their young age, the goalkeepers seemed to display all the traditional strengths; with quick reactions on the line and mostly very safe, they also showed determination and authority in controlling the penalty area.

In addition to Pagliuca and Campos, the Japanese keeper Kawaguchi (matchwinner against Brazil) and Dosu (Nigeria) were the most outstanding.

Defence

Nigeria's captain, triple goalscorer and a major figure in the tournament, Nwankwo Kanu. Sadly his career took an unexpected turn after they had won the gold medal.

In the group games especially, defenders seemed clearly to have the upper hand over the forwards. Only when the knockout phase of the competition was reached and certain risks had to be taken, did the defenders have to capitulate more often.

As mentioned earlier, 15 of the 37 over-23 players were used in defence. Argentina with Sensini and Chamot, and Ghana with Joe Addo and Osei Kuffour used two thirds of their allowance in defence. This resulted in experience, good organisation and good tactical understanding.

With most teams using only two strikers, the outer backs of the four-man defensive chain were often seen taking part in attacking moves and offering support down the wings. In this respect, Argentina (Zanetti and Chamot), France (Candela and Bonnisel) and Nigeria (Obaraku and Babayaro) were the most noticeable. The Brazilian player Ze Elias, originally nominated as a defensive midfielder, switched to being a central defender and was effective in attacks through the centre.

The liberos were rarely seen in attacking positions. "Safety first" was the order of the day. Man-marking was only practised in the vicinity of the penalty area (the exception being Korea, who used this tactic in midfield too), otherwise it was all zone marking.

Midfield

Another Argentine player who has found his way to Italy: Hernan Crespo, joint top scorer along with Bebeto, transferred after the tournament to AC Parma.

Nearly all the teams employed a "windscreen wiper" - a libero in midfield who stationed himself in front of the defensive block and took action to stop opposing attacks. This role is becoming more and more important in footballing tactics. On the other hand the typical playmaker is no longer part of the scene. His duties have been spread around, with the "windscreen wiper" carrying the main defensive responsibility and the midfielder playing just behind the strikers being the main point of attack. The flank midfielders link in pairs with the outer backs and complement each other both in defence and in attack.

The outstanding personalities here were :

Defensive: Almeyda (Argentina), Flavio Conceição (Brazil), Lara (Mexico), Oliseh (Nigeria) and Santiago (Spain).

Offensive: Ortega (Argentina), Vidmar (Australia), Juninho (Brazil), Legwinsky (France), Akunnor (Ghana) and Maezono (japan).

The goal tally from this department was high, with 31 goals (nearly 35%). In fact a defensive midfielder, Brazil's Flavio Conceição, was sixth on the list of goals/assists. His three goals came in the last two games via long shots.

Attack

The strikers only lived up to their name in the second part of the tournament when they scored no less than 60% of the 34 goals (4.25 per game). Most attacks consisted of just two players who either both stayed up front, or one fell back to provide help for the other. There were a good number of exceptionally talented attacking players to be seen in Atlanta: Ronaldinho (who usually goes under the name of Ronaldo, but had to be renamed because there was an older Ronaldo in the squad) and Bebeto (both of Brazil), Crespo (Argentina), Kanu (Nigeria), Viduka (Australia), Pires, Maurice (both France) Ahinful (Ghana), Raul (Spain), Branca (Italy - he scored all their goals) and Kirovski (USA). Many of them are regarded as players of great potential, others have already shown theirs (e.g. Bebeto, one of the World Cup winning team in 1994). A number of top European clubs had scouts looking around and several transfers were successfully arranged.

Facts

The Brazilian Juninho provided four passes that led directly to goals ("assists"). He was thus one of the most valuable players in the ranks of the bronze-medal winners.

With a total of 90 goals, Atlanta topped the Barcelona 1992 tally by three. But relative to '92, the group games were disappointing with only 56 goals (60 in Barcelona). However, with 34 goals coming in the later stages (4.25 per game), the difference was more than made up.

Strikers still had the lion's share of success (44 goals, 48.9%), but the midfielders were close behind in Atlanta (31, 34.4%). In Barcelona the partition had been more definite (strikers 54%, midfielders 25.3%). In terms of goals coming from standard situations there was also an improvement with 28 goals this time (31.1%) compared to Barcelona's 19 (21.8%).

The exact details this time were: six followed corners, four followed free kicks, two came via throw ins, 11 from penalties and 5 from directly converted free kicks. In attack, heading successes were rare with only 14 goals (15.6%), compared to the 1992 figure of 17 (19.5%). In all the referees awarded 15 penalties; as mentioned 11 were converted, the other four being stopped by the goalkeeper.

The most profitable time for scoring goals proved to be the last quarter of an hour (18 goals, 20%). This points on the one hand to a greater readiness to take risks at this stage of a game but also to fading concentration due to a lack of condition.

The 86 goals scored (the other 4 were own goals) were divided among 31 players. 19 scored more than once, two more than five times (Bebeto and Crespo). The best makers of chances (providers of the final pass before a successful effort) were Amokachi (Nigeria) and Juninho (Brazil). Six goals were scored by substitutes coming on. The "magic touch" in this respect was best shown by Nigeria's coach Jo Bonfrère who twice sent on players who would later score (Ikpeba in the semifinal against Brazil and Amunike with the decider against Argentina). Six goals also fell to "alternate" players (those who were called into the squad after the start of the tournament to replace injured team-mates). On seven occasions a team managed to come from behind to win a match (two of these in fact from being two down - Spain against Australia and Nigeria against Brazil).

The following statistics show that the nucleus of most of the teams was formed by players who had taken part in the World Youth Championships for the FIFA/Coca-Cola Cup in Australia in 1993.

The number of players at Atlanta '96 who took part in previous FIFA World Competitions (several were involved on more than one occasion):

1)	FIFA U-17 World Championships
	1985:	1	1987:	1
	1989:	8	1991:	8
	1993:	13	1995:	1
2)	World Youth Championships for the FIFA/Coca-Cola Cup
	1983:	1	1987:	1
	1989:	2	1991:	10
	1993:	31	1995:	14
3)	Olympic football tournaments
	1988:	3	1992:	4
4)	FIFA World Cup
	1990:	2	1994:	18

The next block of statistics shows the overall success of the different confederations. The number of points won per continent is divided by the number of matches played, giving the average number of points per game:

	Number of matches	Points	Average no. points per match
Conmebol (2 teams)	12	23	1,92
CAF (3 teams)	13	19	1,46
Concacaf (2 teams)	7	9	1,28
Europa (5 teams)	20	25	1,25
Asia (3 teams)	9	10	1,1
Oceanía (1 teams)	3	3	1

Huge public interest

Nigeria's fans created a great atmosphere in every stadium. Their delight immediately affected all other spectators.

Some of the football played by the 24 teams involved was so good that, despite the distances between the five venues (no match was actually played in Atlanta), "soccer' by no means took a back seat to other sports. 84,000 fans packed the Legion Field in Birmingham for the opening game between the host country USA and the eventual finalists Argentina. In all 1,364,250 spectators visited the 5 stadiums in Athens, Miami, Orlando, Birmingham and Washington. The men's final alone attracted 86,117, while the 76,489 who went to watch the women's final between the USA and China set a new record for the number of spectators at any event in any women's sport worldwide.

Summary

The desire to attack and strong offensive performances characterised most teams in both the tournaments. Going for the opponent's goal was the women's motto right from the start, and yet the idea of Fair Play was not neglected, making the tournament a truly sporting event. The USA won the women's Fair Play trophy and Argentina the men's, following an evaluation scheme set up by FIFA. Not only were yellow and red cards taken into account but also the general attitude of a team, its attacking tactics and the respect shown for opponents and officials. The Olympic schedule did not allow these awards to be presented, so FIFA plans to give them out at the World Football Gala which will be held in Lisbon in January 1997.

The sporting world saw two superb football tournaments, which really deserved more attention than they were given by the organisers. That the sport with the highest number of spectators was unable to hold a single game at the central venue of the games, Atlanta, is highly regrettable and this should not happen again in the future.