Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
London: Olympic debutants the UAE were handed a dream tie against host nation Great Britain at the draw for the London 2012 football tournament on Tuesday.
The UAE, who booked their place at the London Games when they came from 2-0 down to defeat Uzbekistan 3-2 in Tashkent, will face Team GB at Wembley Stadium on July 29 and will also have the opportunity to avenge the AFC-CAF Playoff defeat of neighbours Oman after also been pooled with Senegal, who defeated the Gulf Sultanate 2-0 on Monday to claim the 16th and final place in the tournament.
South Americans Uruguay, who are making their first appearance since the early part of the 20th century when they dominated the competition, winning gold in in Paris in 1924 and again in Amsterdam four years later, complete Group A.
Korea Republic, who have appeared in the last seven competitions since Seoul hosted the 1988 Olympics, are in Group B with nine-time participants Mexico, debutants Gabon and Switzerland, who finished runners-up in the UEFA European U-21 Football Championships to return to the competition for the first time in over 80 years.
European U-21 champions Spain, gold medal winners at Barcelona '92 and silver medalists in Sydney eight years later, provide the most formidable opponents for Japan in Group D while the East Asians - the continent's only ever medal winners having claimed bronze in 1968 - are also drawn against Honduras and Morocco.
Japan's women's team avoided fellow powerhouses the USA and Brazil - who they topped at the three-team Kirin Cup back in January, as the Nadeshiko look to complete an unprecedented hat-trick by adding Olympic gold to their 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup and 2010 Asian Games titles.
AFC Coach of the Year Norio Sasaki's side have been drawn against Sweden, third-place finishers at the 2011 FIFA World Cup and qualifiers to every edition of the women's football tournament, Canada and first-time participants South Africa.
Asia's other representatives in the competition DPR Korea, who are appearing at the Olympics for a second time after making their debut at Beijing 2008, face five-time finalists the USA, 2011 World Cup semi-finalists France and newcomers Colombia.
2012 Olympic Games draw:
Men's Olympic Football Tournament
Group A: Great Britain, Senegal, UAE, Uruguay
Group B: Mexico, Korea Republic, Gabon, Switzerland
Group C: Brazil, Egypt, Belarus, New Zealand
Group D: Spain, Japan, Honduras, Morocco
Women's Olympic Football Tournament
Group E: Great Britain, New Zealand, Cameroon, Brazil
Group F: Japan, Canada, Sweden, South Africa
Group G: USA, France, Colombia, DPR Korea