Special report: 2008 Olympic Games
BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) -- The biggest-ever Brazilian delegation is expected to give the best-ever performance in Beijing with the world's top ball players and sailors on board.
"I want you to win all the medals possible," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said when he greeted the athletes at a send-off for the national delegation.
Volleyball and sailing, providing two gold medals each when Brazil won a record five golds in the Athens Olympics, are still hot favorites for the South American country in the upcoming Beijing Games.
The indoor and beach volleyball teams were expected to make a clean sweep of four gold medals at stake, Brazil's top sports magazine Globo Esporte predicted.
The men's indoor team, led by top star Gilberto Godoy Filho (better known as Giba), has proved its ruling position by wrapping up champions of all major international competitions including the Olympics, World Championships and World Cup since 2001. The team, coming to Beijing with an average age of 28, is targeting nothing but the title.
"I believe my players are the best and we are confident to win the championship in Beijing," said Brazilian head coach Bernardo Rezende, taking Russia and the fourth-ranked Bulgaria as the greatest threats.
In the bronze battle field, the reigning champion Ricardo Santosand Emanuel Rego would face big challenge from the uprising stars Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser from the United States. The U.S. duo were the 2007 world champions and have topped the world rankings by winning their last three tournaments.
The Brazilian women, however, are more than eager to win gold medals in Beijing. The indoor team has become one of the top title favorites by claiming their seventh World Grand Prix title in July with a perfect 5-0 record, but their coach Jose Roberto Guimaraes said he had no "illusions" about the Olympics.
"It is quite another matter, the Grand Prix and the Olympics," said Guimaraes.
It was reasonable that Guimaraes refused to be over optimistic, as the host Chinese team were determined to repeat the glory in the Athens Games. Chen Zhonghe, China's head coach, said he was still confident of his team despite a disappointing fifth finish in the World Grand Prix Finals. Besides, Italy, the world No. 2 and Russia, the runners-up in Athens are also ambitious.
The Brazilian beach women have much tougher rivals to deal with. Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh from the United States seemed to be impossible to tackle as they won both World Championships since crowning in Athens Olympics and had been unbeatable for almost a year.
In the field of soccer, Brazilians have more brilliant history. The men's team has won five World Cups, but yet an Olympic gold medal. In order to wipe off such a shame, Brazil recruited the strongest ever Olympic squad for Beijing, including two-time World Player of the Year Ronaldinho.
"There is a lot of pressure in winning," said the head coach Dunga, also coaching Brazil's senior team, pointing out the Olympics harder than World Cup due to the lack of preparation.
What makes it even harder for Dunga's team to make history is the luxury Argentina team, led by Lionel Messi, seeking to retain the gold medal in 2004.
In the women's competition, Brazil also has a good chance to win its first major title in Beijing.
It was in the sport of shooting that Brazil won its first Olympic gold medal in the 1920 Games, but the most successful sport in the country's Olympic history is sailing, which provided six gold medals out of 17 in total.
Robert Scheidt, double Olympic Champion in men's Laser Class, has been chosen to carry the national flag at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. The 35-year-old Scheidt would compete in the Star Class for the first time in his fourth Olympic attempts.
Brazil's other medal hopes lie in judo, gymnastics and equestrian.
Diego Hypolito, two-time world champion in the men's floor exercise is expected to bring his country the first Olympic gymnastic gold medal despite undergoing a surgery on his right knee in March and suffering a dengue fever in April.
However, Brazil, having a record 272 athletes qualified for the Beijing Olympics, eyes not only the success in the competitions, but also a new position in the Olympic family.
Rio de Janeiro is bidding for the 2016 Olympics along with Tokyo, Chicago and Madrid. The second major city of Brazil, famous for both Carnival celebrations and violence, is looking forward to bringing the hundred-years-old Olympic Games to South America for the first time.
