Melbourne Victory stars Archie Thompson and Billy Celeski both featured in Australia’s narrow 1-0 loss to Argentina in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games this evening.
Melbourne Victory stars Archie Thompson and Billy Celeski both featured in Australia-s narrow 1-0 loss to Argentina in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games this evening.
Australia held its own against its South American opposition for much of the match until Argentinean striker Ezequiel Lavezzi scored on 76 minutes against the run of play.
Thompson and Celeski both started against Argentina, with the former being replaced by Nikita Rukavytsya on 72 minutes and the latter coming off for Trent McClenahan on 81 minutes.
Both players had chances during the contest, most notably through Celeski, who produced a great solo effort on 21 minutes, beating three defenders inside penalty box only to see his shot blocked by a sliding Federico Fazio.
Thompson came close on 39 minutes when midfielder James Troisi slipped a pass behind the Argentinean defence, although Thompson-s shot was mistimed and went wide of the goal.
Australia will play its final Olympic Games group match against Ivory Coast at the Olympic Sports Center Stadium, Tianjin on Wednesday 13 August (kick off 9:45pm AEST).
Australia must win to have a chance of progressing to the quarter finals of the competition.
Victory memberships for the Hyundai A-League 2008/09 season are currently available from the Victory Shop, 236 Swan Street, Richmond, by calling 1300 GO MVFC or online by clicking here.