SPAIN

Clemente takes charge

No team has won two Olympic soccer gold medals in a row since Hungary did it in 1964 and 1968, but Spain, the gold medalist at Barcelona ’92, has as good a shot of winning this year’s title as any team in the 16-team field.

The Spaniards won’t have the home-field advantage they had in Barcelona four years ago, but they do have a lot going for them.

To begin with, Spanish national team coach Javier Clemente is personally taking charge of the Olympic campaign. He immediately went to work after Spain’s quarterfinal finish at Euro ’96 and ousted assistant coach Andoni Goikoetxea, replacing him with former Albacete coach Inaki Saez.

He put the 18 players (all U-23s) to work with two weeks of two-a-day practices in Puente Viesgo.

From back to front, Clemente has a solid lineup. Defender Santi was a key figure in Atletico Madrid’s march to the title. Oscar and Roberto handle the ball-winning chores in midfield. Ivan De la Pena, the “Little Buddha,” had Italian scouts drooling at the European under-23 finals in Barcelona in late May. Raul, the young Read Madrid star, and Espanyol’s Jordi Lardin, head the attack.

“We’re going with the idea that we can keep the gold medal,” De la Pena says, “but we know it won’t be easy.”

History: 7 appearances (1 gold: 1992, 1 silver: 1920).

Qualifying: Cyprus 6-0, 3-1, Macedonia 4-0, 1-0, Denmark 1-0, 1-5, Belgium 1-1, 3-3, Armenia 3-0, 4-0, Czech Republic 2-1, 2-1.

FRANCE

Test for young strikers

France returns to the Olympics for the first time since 1984 when it won the gold medal in Pasadena.

It’s generally considered that this year’s French team, albeit an all U-23 outfit, is even better.

Coach Raymond Domenech chose not to bring any over-age players into the team — all four alternates, however, are over-age players — because he didn’t want to disrupt the team’s chemistry.

As many as eight players who started in France’s first Olympic qualifier almost two years ago could start in the opener against Australia July 20. All the players shaved their heads when they reported to training camp in late June.

As many as a half a dozen players could get a look this fall on France’s national team that begins its preparations for the ’98 World Cup at which it will serve as host.

France had everything it needed to take the Euro ’96 title except an effective striker, so the French coaching staff will be looking closely at the two Olympic strikers: Florian Maurice and Robert Pires, who have scored 20 goals between them.

Other players considered World Cup material are midfielders Patrick Vieira and Claude Makelele.

One surprise: Raymond Domenech has been using Vieira at sweeper in practice before it departed for its U.S. base in Auburn, Ala.

History: 12 appearances (1 gold: 1984; 1 silver: 1900).

Qualifying: Slovakia 0-1, 3-0, Romania 0-0, 0-0, Azerbaijan 5-0, 5-0, Israel 1-1, 3-0, Poland 4-0, 4-1, Germany 0-0, 4-1.

AUSTRALIA

A genuine Olympic power

Despite the presence of European powers Spain and France, Group B isn’t simply a two-team group.

Australia has quietly emerged as a genuine Olympic power. The Olyroos reached the quarterfinals in 1988 and finished fourth in 1992.

Eddie Thomson’s team marched through qualifying even though its best players, who compete in Europe, were rarely available for training.

Mark Viduka, who plays for Croatian club NK Zagreb, could be one of the top strikers at the Olympics. Paul Agostino (Bristol City) and Hayden Fox (Ajax) are two other promising U-23s based in Europe.

Thomson did choose to add three wild-card players: the veteran Aurelio Vidmar from Feyenoord, Steven Horvat and Steve Corica.

History: 3 appearances.

Qualifying: Vanuatu 9-1, 12-0, Solomon Islands 0-2 (forfeit), 7-0, Fiji 10-0, 5-0, New Zealand 5-0, 0-1, Canada 2-2, 5-0.

SAUDI ARABIA

Al-Dossari carries team

The Saudis arrived in the United States for training in late June without the publicity that marked their first appearance in the finals 12 years ago. At the time, the Saudis took out full-page ads in major U.S. dailies to herald their achievement of qualifying for the Los Angeles Games.

The Saudis hope their return to the United States will more closely resemble their ’94 World Cup campaign (wins over Morocco and Belgium put them in the round of 16) than their ’84 Olympic experience (losses to Morocco, West Germany and Brazil).

The Saudis scraped through qualifying in Asia, where they needed a “golden goal” to beat dreaded Iraq for the third and final Asian berth in the finals — and give U.S. security officials a huge sigh of relief. Obied Al-Dossari almost single-handedly led Saudis through qualifying, scoring a tournament-high six goals.

But he’ll need help from experienced wild-card players like Mohamed Al-Khilawi and Fuad Anwar Amin if the Saudis are to avoid a similar fate to the one they experienced at the ’84 Games.

History: 1 appearance.

Qualifying: Syria 2-0, 1-0, Kuwait 1-0, 0-0, South Korea 1-1, China 1-1, Kazakhstan 4-0, Japan 1-2, Iraq 1-0 (OT).