Stage set for Olympic soccer 'quarters'

Dinesh WEERAWANSA reporting from England

It all points out to a keenly contested round of quarter finals in the men's football tournament of the 2012 Olympic Games to be worked off on Saturday. But there will be a greater pressure on the hosts Great Britain who will take on South Korea at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Great Britain's men followed the women into the Olympic quarter-finals as Daniel Sturridge netted the only goal against Uruguay at the same venue last night. The clock was ticking down towards the interval when Joe Allen wove a neat pattern inside the Uruguay box before drilling the low cross which Sturridge prodded home from close range.

Chelsea man Sturridge has now scored two in two games, a fact the watching Roy Hodgson - whose England team take on Italy in a fortnight - cannot help but have noticed.

Brazil will go out favourites in the second semi final against Honduras to be played at St. James Park, New Castle. Honduras and Japan both qualified for the quarters after fighting out a goalless draw at the City of Coventry Stadium last night.

International striker Leandro Damiao inspired 10-man Brazil to an easy three-nil victory over New Zealand in their last Group C match to finish the qualifiers with a 100 per cent record.

The 23-year-old set up midfielder Danilo to open the scoring and then claimed his second of the tournament before the break. Tottenham's Sandro added a third in the second half to cement the win Senegal will take on Mexico in the third quarter final to be played at Wembley Stadium. Senegal made it to the last eight after leading striker Moussa Konate rescued a point against UAE at the City of Coventry Stadium.

Konate scored his fourth goal in three Group A matches early in the second half to cancel out Matar Ismaeil's opener.

The fourth quarter final at Old Trafford, Manchester would see Asian heavyweights Japan take on Egypt. Japan finished top of the group with seven points from three games, that included a nil-all draw against Honduras in the last outing. The winner will advance to Tuesday's semi finals which will be followed by the grand Olympic soccer final on July 11.

The biggest disappointment in the Olympic men's soccer tournament was the

unceremonial exit of world champions Spain. Honduras striker Jerry Bengtson dumped Spain out of the Games as his team pulled off a major shock with a one-nil win. The 25-year-old's seventh-minute header, his third goal in two games, ensured that the Spaniards, whose senior team are reigning world and European champions, will go home early following an opening defeat by Group D leaders Japan. The giant killing performance of Honduras enabled to hosts Great Britain to keep their medal chances alive.

Meanwhile, Korean teenager Kim Jangmi beat reigning Olympic champion Chen

Ying of China with her final round to win gold in the women's 25m air pistol event. The 19-year-old, who won the World Cup in London which

doubled as the Olympic test event in April, showed her liking for the Royal Artillery Barracks by setting an Olympic record in qualifying.

She rattled off a five-shot final round of 51.8 in the final, including a perfect bullseye of 10.9, to leapfrog Beijing winner Chen at the death. Olena Kostevych, of Ukraine, took the bronze medal. US Army sergeant Vincent Hancock retained the men's shooting skeet title he won in Beijing four years ago.

The 23-year-old from Columbus, Georgia, added the gold medal to the one he won four years ago at Beijing, becoming the first Skeet shooter to win back-to-back titles.

Hancock also broke his own Olympic record, missing just two shots and firing a perfect 25 in the final to register 148.

Hancock finished two points ahead of Denmark's Anders Goldwin, who took silver in the event, which sees competitors fire at clay targets from seven different positions on the range.

China's Lu Xiaojun got the better of injured compatriot Lu Haojie to claim gold and set new world and Olympic records in an action-packed men's77kg Weightlifting tonight. The battle for gold and silver got off to a thrilling start as the pair exchanged 170kg attempts before Lu Haojie failed at 175kg, leaving Lu Xiaojun to succeed and beat his own world record while also setting an Olympic best. Lu Xiaojun then lifted a 204kg clean and jerk over his head and set a stunning total of 379kg, again eclipsing his own previous world achivements and taking Taner Sagir's Olympic record.

Lu Haojie had previously taken to the stage to clean and jerk 190kg before passing on his next two attempts when it become clear he had sustained an arm injury, with his 360kg total still enough for silver. Cuba's Ivan Cambar Rodriguez edged a tight battle for bronze from Thailand's Chatuphum Chinnawong and Egypt's Ibrahim Ramadan Ibrahim.

- LONDON, Thursday.