Ég vildi helst skrifa eitthvað sjálfur um þennan frábæra sigur Argentínu á Ítalíu en ég bæði of latur og of þreyttur. Ég læt mér duga að segja að bæði liðin voru frábær í þessum leik en að lokum sigraði betra liðið. Þetta er tekið af opinberri heimasíðu Ólympíuleikanna, www.athens2004.com, og er þessi grein eftir einhvern blaðamann sem sá allan leikinn á meðan að ég sá aðeins seinni hálfleikinn (sem var frábær í sjálfu sér). Njótið vel:

ATHENS, 28 August - After one of the most memorable tournaments ever played, Olympic Men's Basketball has a new king from a new continent: Argentina.

Despite the loss of a key starter to injury, Argentina left no doubt about the name of the best team in the world as it eased to a 84-69 victory over Italy in the gold medal game on Saturday night at Olympic Indoor Hall.

Gold was the first medal of any kind for Argentina, whose previous best finish was fourth at Helsinki 1952. The only previous Men's Basketball golds were won by United States (12), Soviet Union (2) and Yugoslavia (1).

Italy was left with its second silver medal, after Moscow 1980. The USA defeated Lithuania earlier to take bronze.

Argentina played without starting big man Fabricio OBERTO, who broke his hand late in the team's semifinal victory over the United States. Luis SCOLA took his place, leading Argentina with 25 points and 11 rebounds, while making 10 of 13 two-point shots and all five of his free throws.

Alejandro MONTECCHIA scored 11 of his 17 points in the final quarter, including three huge three-pointers, to prevent any comeback by Italy. Emanuel GINOBILI, who had his own injury scare before halftime, scored 16 more and Ruben WOLKOWYSKI 13 for the winners.

Italy was as close as 61-59 early in the final quarter, but failed to score more than a free throw for a full five minutes while Argentina opened a 13 point lead.

Matteo SORAGNA and Gianmarco POZZECCO scored 12 points each for Italy and Rodolfo ROMBALDONI 10 points.

Argentina tried to outrun Italy's accomplished defence from the start of the game, and succeeded in posting a 7-2 lead. Italy turned to three-pointers, with Alex RIGHETTI and BASILE drilling one each, but even when they fell through, Argentina's strategy was clear: race down the floor and shoot before the Italian defence can set up.

Italy was within 9-8 when SCOLA started taking most of those shots. His first to fall made it 11-8 with 4:01 left in the quarter. Before it was done, he had 10 points total and, despite another BASILE triple, Argentina had a decent lead to protect, 23-16.

Argentina expanded on its lead steadily in the early second quarter until GINOBILI scored five points, including an acrobatic twisting layup, in a quick 7-0 run that made the score 34-22. Italy got a couple of three-pointers from SORAGNA and Giacomo GALANDA to stay within 43-35.

Then Argentina missed a few shots, allowing Italy to get six straight points as ROMBALDONI and Luca GARRI drove to the basket. GINOBILI, who had been sitting the previous six minutes, returned for the final play of the quarter, but fell on his way to the basket and remained out of bounds, clutching his knee as the half ended with his team clinging to a 43-41 advantage.

GINOBILI started the third quarter and soon fed WOLKOWYSKI inside for a 47-43 Argentina lead. ROMBALDONI kept his team close with five points until SORAGNA got a new lead for Italy at the foul line, 48-47.

SCOLA went back to work with two baskets, putting Argentina back ahead, but SORAGNA and then BASILE struck from downtown with back-to-back three-pointers for a new 54-51 Italy lead.

SCOLA was unstoppable, however, dropping a short jumper, then finishing a fastbreak with a layup-plus-free throw. When Andres NOCIONI hit a one-hander in the lane, Argentina had back the lead at 58-54. Three tense, scoreless minutes ensued before MONTECCHIA scored a layup with time running out to boost Argentina's edge to 60-54 after 30 minutes.

Massimo BULLERI came in and gave Italy a lift at the start of the final quarter, with a triple and spin move for a layup that drew his team within 61-59. It would be a long time before Italy saw another basket, however.

In the meantime, MONTECCHIA rained two perfect triples in a 12-0 run that put the game away. The Italian defence that had ruled other opponents in key moments had no answer to the Argentines' combination of ball movement and accuracy.

The lead was now 73-60, and even some late shots by Italy could not slow Argentina's march to destiny. The Olympic Games gold medals in Men's Basketball were going to South America for the first time.

ONS fl/imc (þetta er víst undirskrift höfundsins :S)