MANCHESTER, England, July 26 (Reuters) - Hosts Britain were
denied victory on their return to the Olympic Games after a
52-year absence when they were held to a 1-1 draw by debutants
Senegal in their opening Group A match at Old Trafford on
Thursday.
Britain looked to be heading for victory after Welsh veteran
Craig Bellamy, at 33 one of their over-age players, lashed home
after 20 minutes.
But Senegal, who rallied strongly after the break, equalised
in the 82nd minute when Moussa Konate timed his run perfectly to
stay onside and clip the ball past goalkeeper Jack Butland.
Britain almost stole all three points in the 88th minute
when Aaron Ramsey set up substitute Marvin Sordell but he shot
against the bar.
The men's soccer competition is contested by Under-23 teams
who are allowed to field three players over that age, but
Britain has been absent since the Rome Games of 1960 because of
political differences involving Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland regarding their own independence within FIFA.
But all that was forgotten as a near capacity crowd of
72,476 enjoyed a memorable night which began with Uruguay
beating the United Arab Emirates 2-1 in the group opener.
They were also close to witnessing a British win, but were
denied the chance despite an excellent performance from
Britain's other Welsh veteran, skipper Ryan Giggs.
OLDEST PLAYER
At 38 years and eight months old, and playing on his home
Manchester United ground, Giggs became the oldest outfield
soccer player ever to appear in the Olympic finals.
Giggs also had a hand in Bellamy's goal as the Senegal
defence failed to clear his free-kick. The ball fell to Bellamy
who scored with a fierce volley into the ground that flew up
past goalkeeper Ousmane Mane.
Britain, playing only their second match together since the
Olympics squad was announced, seemed far more settled from the
start than they were at any time during last week's warm-up
against Brazil in Middlesbrough which they lost 2-0.
However, they lacked bite in the second half and that was
always inviting danger against Senegal, who qualified for their
first Olympics after beating Oman 2-0 in a playoff at Coventry
in April and had certainly not come to make up the numbers.
Senegal's tall, physically strong and hard-running side --
typified by captain Mohamed Diame who has just moved from Wigan
Athletic to West Ham United in the Premier League -- deserved a
point from a well-contested game.
But they also wasted a golden chance to equalise soon after
Bellamy's goal when Sadio Mane dinked the ball wide after
Butland made a rare mistake and hit a weak clearance straight to
him.
Britain next face the United Arab Emirates while Uruguay
play Senegal in another double-header at Wembley on Sunday.
(Reporting by Mike Collett; editing by Ken Ferris)