Zheng Zhi will try to better China's previous olympic perfomance

They will be cheered on 被打气 by a chorus 合唱 of 1.3 billion Chinese… and a few Charlton Athletic fans.

English club Charlton Athletic have released Zheng to captain his country through the tournament. Charlton boss Alan Pardew said the player would be missed by Charlton fans, who would be supporting China.

A big miss  ZiZi will be a big miss while he is out in China… I'm sure the Charlton fans will be supporting China when the tournament kicks off.   Alan Pardew, Charlton Athletic manager

He added that taking part in the Olympics in his homeland 家乡 would be a "wonderful experience" for Zheng and his team-mates.

Zheng will be hoping to better 超越 China's only previous performance at the games in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, when they left goalless 一球未进 after three games.

The Olympics do provide an opportunity for new, young teams to shine. In 1996 Nigeria beat Argentina to win gold and in 2000, Cameroon won a final against Spain on penalties.

But in terms of medals 就奖牌而言, the hosts have a much better chance in the women's competition. China have always fielded strong women's teams, taking silver in the first women’s Olympic football tournament in 1996, and then becoming runners-up 第二名 in the 1999 World Cup.

But if neither of the national teams make it to 坚持到 the podium 领奖台, Chinese fans can always invoke 使用 the famous Olympic slogan 口号 - 'The important thing is not to win, but to take part 参与'.

But who is taking part? Elsewhere in the men’s competition, it's still not exactly clear.

Argentina will be defending their gold medal with a team including Liverpool's Javier Mascherano, who helped lift the cup in 2004. However, coach Sergio Batista is still wrangling 争论 with Barcelona over their star player Lionel Messi.

Big clubs are reluctant to release their players for the Olympics since they miss important club matches and run the risk of injury. But Fifa has ruled that clubs must release players under the age of 23 if their nations request them.

Barcelona have lodged an appeal 上诉 with the Court of Arbitration 仲裁 for Sport (CAS) over the release of Messi. They want him for the first leg of their Champions League 冠军联赛 third qualifying round tie on 12 August.

But Messi has said that it is his dream to play for his country in the Olympic Games.

Olympic dreams  From the beginning I've said that I want to play for my national team and I've never had problems until now… For the moment I want to be with my national team and my team-mates.   Lionel Messi

The CAS judgement is expected on Wednesday at the latest.

Batista might take some comfort in the knowledge that Brazil's coach Dunga is also anxiously awaiting the CAS ruling 裁决. He'll find out whether he has obtained Diego and Rafinha from their German clubs Werder Bremen and Schalke.

The Olympics are the only title Brazil have never won – an exception 例外 that Dunga is desperate to put right 改正，修正.