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Pre-Olympic boost for Slovakia football team
PERTH, Australia, Sept 6 (AFP) - Slovakia began its tune-up for the Olympic Games football competition starting next week with a hard-earned 1-0 victory over Australian glamour side Perth Glory here Wednesday night. A first-half goal by winger Karol Kisel, during a goal-mouth scramble, gave the side a morale-boosting win under lights at the blustery Western Australian Cricket Ground. It was the first of two clashes between Slovakia and Glory, the runners-up in last season's Australian National Soccer league grand final. The teams meet again at the same venue on Saturday. Slovakia, which qualified for the Olympics with a fourth-place finish at the European under-21 championships earlier this year, has its sights firmly trained on its Olympic opener, against tournament favourites Brazil in Brisbane on September 14. Slovakia's other group matches at the Games will be against Japan on September 17 and South Africa on September 20, both in Canberra. "The main aim is to qualify from the Group matches," said head coach Dusan Radolsky. "It's a very tough Group, because apart from Brazil, Japan has been booming recently and the South Africans can be a surprise.
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