KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's first foray on to the Olympic soccer stage could not be more daunting.
As the names came out of the hat at the draw in Beijing yesterday, New Zealand representatives Jonathan Gould (men's assistant coach) and women's coach John Herdman could only shake their heads in
amazement.
The men have been drawn against hosts China, Brazil and Belgium in their 16-team tournament while the women will play the only two countries to have won Olympic gold, USA and Norway and, in their opening match, Japan.
"We are happy with that [the draw]," said men's coach Stu Jacobs who gave up the opportunity to be in Beijing for the Fifa-conducted draw to be with his Team Wellington players for Sunday's NZFC grand final. "To be drawn in the same group as Brazil and China is the kind of stuff dreams are made of."
A capacity crowd of 60,000 is expected to watch the Oly-Whites play China in Shengyang on August 7 - two days before the Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing.
"We had already been told we would be playing before the official opening and that we players would not be part of that," said Jacobs.
"Now we know who we are playing, we will have to prepare accordingly. There is not much footage around of under-23 internationals so we will have to pick up what we can."
Brazil have already put their stake in the ground, saying they are preparing to go all out to win a trophy which has so far eluded them.
The South Americans followed a fourth placing in Montreal in 1976 with the silver medal eight years later in Los Angeles in the first tournament in which professionals were allowed to play. Brazil lost that final 2-0 to France.
Four years later in Seoul, and with Romario taking the golden shoe as the top scorer, Brazil lost the final 2-1 to the Soviets.
In 1996, in Atlanta, Brazil took bronze behind Nigeria and Argentina.
Belgium's only success came in 1920 when, as hosts, they took gold - their only medal at this level.
Jacobs, who has pulled on another of his coaching hats this week to conduct the first of a number of planned camps for the national under-20 side who are preparing to play the Oceania qualifiers in Tahiti in September, is set to name his expanded 25-man Olympic squad today.
He was to check on the availability of US-based Dan Keat overnight. He was not particularly hopeful as Keat has suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury and faces six to eight months on the sidelines.
The New Zealand women too face a real test but again, Herman remains philosophical.
"It's a good pool for New Zealand - we haven't played Norway or Japan for a long time, so that unknown quantity will work in our favour.
"Japan is a great start for us - all teams are strong but we have to have a go at them," Herman said.
The United States won the inaugural women's tournament in 1996 from Norway and Brazil.
The gold and silver medals were reversed four years later in Sydney but the Americans returned to the top of the dais four years ago in Athens by beating Brazil in the final. Twelve teams will play in the women's tournament.
Meanwhile, the three northern clubs denied the chance to play in the new regional league have appealed the decision by United Soccer 1 to deny them the right to enter the competition.
The appeal will again be heard by New Zealand Football's appeals committee who originally suggested to US1 that East Coast Bays, Glenfield Rovers and Waitakere City be allowed to play. That recommendation was rejected by US1.
OLYMPIC DRAW
Men
Group A: Cote d'Ivoire, Argentina, Australia, Serbia
Group B: Netherlands, Nigeria, Japan, USA
Group C: China, NEW ZEALAND, Brazil, Belgium
Group D: Korea, Cameroon, Honduras, Italy
The top two teams from each pool qualify for the quarter-finals
Men's schedule
August 7: New Zealand v China PR at Shengyang, 11.45pm NZT
August 10: New Zealand v Brazil at Shengyang, 9pm NZT
August 13: New Zealand v Belgium at Shanghai, 11.45pm NZT
Women
Group E: China, Sweden, Argentina, Canada
Group F: Korea DPR, Nigeria, Germany, Brazil
Group G: Norway, USA, Japan, NEW ZEALAND
The top two teams from each pool and the best two third-placed teams qualify for the quarter-finals
Women's Schedule
August 6: New Zealand v Japan at Qinhuangdao, 9pm NZT
August 9: New Zealand v Norway at Qinhuangdao, 11.45pm NZT
August 12: New Zealand v USA at Shengyang, 11.45pm NZT.