By Paul Kennedy

ARGENTINA

Argentina’s Olympic team began its final preparations for the Olympics with a 2-0 win over Poland in the provincial city of Tucaman June 20.

Argentina coach Daniel Passarella fielded four overage players in the match. Two of them scored: Abel Balbo, not on the preliminary Olympic roster, in the 73rd minute and Diego Simeone in the 77th.

Argentina — Bossio, Zanetti, Ayala, Sensini, Chamot (Pineda, 80), Simeone, Veron (Bassedas, 80), Gustavo Lopez, Morales, Delgado (Balbo, 46), Claudio Lopez.

PORTUGAL

Portuguese coach Nelo Vindala named a preliminary squad of 23 players for the Olympics. Included are four overage players: Quim Berto (24), Capucho (24), Paulo Alves (25) and Rui Bento (24).

Roster:

Goalkeepers — Costinha (Sporting), Nuno (Vit. Guimaraes).

Defenders — Vidigal (Sporting), Litos (Boavista), Rui Bento (Boavista), Quim Berto (Vit. Guimaraes), Rui Jorge (Salgueiros), Sergio Conceizao (Salgueiros).

Midfielders — Daniel Kenedy (Benfica), Peixe (Sporting), Afonso Martins (Sporting), Capucho (Vit. Guimaraes), Calado (Benfica), Bruno Caires (Benfica), Beto (Sporting), Andrade (Sporting), Paulo Morais (Sporting).

Strikers — Dani (West Ham, England), Jose Dominguez (Sporting), Nuno Gomes (Boavista), Nandinho (Salgueiros), Paulo Alves (Sporting).

TUNISIA

Coach Henry Kasperczak’s probable choices for his three overage players are goalie Chokri El Ouaer (Esperance), midfielder Zoubeir Beya (Etoile Sahel) and striker Adel Sellimi (Club Africain).

They all played on the Tunisian team that finished second at the African Nations’ Cup this winter.

Sellimi, who’s being courted by French club Nantes, scored in both legs of the World Cup ’98 qualifying series between Tunisia and Rwanda this month. Beya and El Ouaer both started in the second game against Rwanda.

MEXICO

The chances that Los Angeles Galaxy star Jorge Campos will get to play in the Olympics are slim.

Mexico has announced a provisional 20-man roster for Atlanta ’96, and Campos was not one of three overage players selected.

The core of the team comes from the team that won U.S. Cup ’96. The only player who played against the United States in the final game not to get picked is Campos.

Mexico picked defender Claudio Suarez, midfielder Joaquin Del Olmo and striker Luis Garcia as the three overage players. Midfielder Alberto Garcia Aspe, who did not play in the 2-2 tie with the United States, was the other overage candidate.

Campos had expressed interest in playing in the Olympics, but the Mexican coaching staff has enough confidence in starting goalie Oswaldo Sanchez not to use one of its three picks for a goalkeeper.

Four under-23 players started on Mexico’s Gold Cup championship team:
defenders German Villa and Duilio Davino, midfielder Raul Rodrigo Lara and striker Cuauhtemoc Blanco.

Having won the Gold Cup and U.S. Cup this year with a nucleus of U-23 players and having finished second at the ’95 Pan-American Games, Mexico has assembled probably its best Olympic team ever.

It does face stiff competition in Group C, where it faces European champion Italy, Asian champion South Korea and Ghana, the group’s top seed.

Mexico is scheduled to play tuneup games against Hungary July in Queretaro and Japan July 13 in Dallas.

Bora Milutinovic, who heads the Mexican national team program, insisted that the roster could be changed before it is submitted July 5.

The preliminary roster:

Goalkeepers — Oscar Perez (Cruz Azul), Oswaldo Sanchez (Atlas).

Defenders — Edson Alvarado (UNAM), Duilio Davino (UAG), Adrian Garcia (Toluca), Francisco Sanchez (Club America), Claudio Suarez (UNAM), German Villa (Club America).

Midfielders — Enrique Alfaro (Toluca), Jesus Arellano (Monterrey), Rafael Garcia (UNAM), Raul Rodrigo Lara (Club America), Joaquin Del Olmo (Club America), David Oteo (UNAM), Pavel Pardo, Manuel Sol (Necaxa), .

Strikers — Juan Manuel Abundis (Toluca), Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Club America), Luis Garcia (Club America), Francisco Palencia (Cruz Azul).

NIGERIA

Nigeria’s Olympic team left Lagos June 23 for the United States with 22 players. It is one of the favorites at Atlanta ’96 — it faces Brazil, Hungary and Japan in the first round — but Dutch coach Jo Bonfrere again complained of organizational problems.

He had quit the team earlier in the spring only to be brought back. Typical of the team’s problems, its departure for the airport in Lagos was delayed while it sorted out a dispute with its hotel over the bill.

Bonfrere included four overage players and must drop one as only three are allowed to play in the Olympics.

Daniel Amokachi of Everton, Emmanuel Amunike of Sporting Lisbon, Uche Okechukwu of Turkey’s Fenerbahce and former Brooklyn College star Jonathan Akpoborie of Germany’s Hansa Rostock are the overage players.

Among the underage players from Nigeria’s World Cup ’94 roster are Jay Jay Okocha, who was just sold from Eintracht Frankfurt to Turkish club Fenerbahce, Sunday Oliseh and Victor Ikpeba. Another U-23 player is Ajax striker Nwankwo Kanu.

The Nigerian traveling squad:

Goalkeepers: Emmanuel Babayaro (Plateau United), Abiodun Baruwa (Shooting Stars), Oladosu Joseph (Julius Berger)

Defenders: Mobi Okparaku (Turnhout, Belgium), Patrick Paschal (Shooting Stars), Celestine Babayaro (Anderlecht, Belgium), Ndubisi Ndah (Rangers), Taribo West (Auxerre, France), Uche Okechukwu (Fenerbahce, Turkey), Kingsley Obiekwu (Go Ahead Eagles, Netherlands), Abiodun Obafemi (Toulouse, France).

Midfielders: Wilson Oruma (Lens, France), Austin Okocha (Fenerbahce, Turkey), Victor Ikpeba (Monaco, France), Sunday Oliseh (Cologne, Germany), Garba Lawal (Esperance, Tunisia).

Strikers: Teslim Fatusi (Servette, Switzerland), Nwankwo Kanu (Ajax, Netherlands), Emmanuel Amunike (Sporting, Portugal), Jonathan Akpoborie (Hansa Rostock, Germany), Tijjani Babangida (Roda JC, Netherlands), Daniel Amokachi (Everton, England).

BRAZIL

Brazil’s women’s Olympic team is camped in Rapid City, S.D., for a month to prepare for the first Olympic women’s soccer tournament.

The team, which will be staying at National College until July 15, is playing games in Rapid City against a pair of USWISL teams June 29 and July 11 and the Canadian national team July 4.

ITALY

Injuries have forced another change on Italy’s roster.

Juventus midfielder Alessandro Tacchinardi has been scratched, and he’s been replaced by Torino’s Antonino Bernardini.