Football and the Olympics have been together for more than 100 years, but they still aren't really talking to each other. Due to the huge holes in the player selection process, Argentina forward Lionel Messi was almost sent home the day before his debut because his club, FC Barcelona, wanted him back. Thankfully, for the record 2.14 million Olympic football fans, Barcelona allowed Messi to stay. He dazzled fans with his footwork, goals and passes, justifying his appearance by setting up Argentina's only goal in a 1-0 victory over Nigeria in Saturday's final. But he had to sweat to get it. The two teams sweltered in midday temperatures of 42 degrees Celsius (107 Fahrenheit), and match officials took the rare step of stopping play twice to allow players to drink water and cool down. Now there were two ways of fixing both those problems. Had FIFA made the sensible move of putting the Olympic competition on its schedule of official international competitions – like it will for the 2012 London Games – there would have been no conflict between club vs. country. And had organizers scheduled the final in the comparative cool of the evening in another stadium – rather than forcing the finalists to play in potentially dangerous midday conditions at the Bird's Nest – no one would have complained. When the game kicked off, it was 6 A.M. in Europe and midnight in most parts of North and South America, hardly prime time. But it was the only time available at the spectacular Bird's Nest stadium, which had to be reconfigured for that evening's track and field competition. At the 2004 Athens Games, the men's final kicked off even earlier. “No team has actually played at noon since we started this tournament,” Nigeria coach Samson Siasia said. “It affected both countries, and most players didn't perform to their level because of the heat. But we didn't make the rules. They said play the game at 12 O'clock, which I don't think was a good idea.” The embarrassing start and finish to the competition overshadowed what was a well-played tournament in which the young stars of the 16 teams gave a glimpse of World Cups to come. Although many of the women's games were played in front of half-empty stadiums, the record crowds underlined how popular football is in China. But there is so much missing with football at the Games that it never will achieve the same impact as athletics, swimming or gymnastics, which all consider the Olympics far more important than their own world championships. FIFA President Sepp Blatter announced toward the end of the competition there would be no moves to sharpen up the image of Olympic football by allowing full-strength lineups. He saw the competition as a sort of “university” where the top graduates would move on to the World Cup. – AP __
