Captain and defensive mainstay Roberto Ayala is leading the young Argentinians' bid to march away from Athens with a first-ever Olympic football gold. FIFA.com caught up with the seasoned centre-half in Patras. The only player in the competition to have disputed a previous Men's Olympic Football Tournament spoke about how the side is shaping up for Saturday's clash against Tunisia and the tremendous atmosphere at the Olympic village. 

Roberto enjoys telling us a tale from the week leading up to the side's debut against Serbia and Montenegro when the footballers were having dinner with the other Argentinian athletes. The story goes that Cristian "Kily" González led the entire Albiceleste delegation in a deafening bout of song which could be heard right across the Olympic village.

"It was fantastic to have spent time there. It was a real eye-opener for us coming from the world of football, where everything is usually more professional," says Ayala, who is still very pleasantly taken aback by the atmosphere of camaraderie and amateurism prevailing in the Olympic camp. "Everyone has to make their own bed, tidy their room, eat with everybody else and clear up their leftovers on a little tray. It was really nice and we would have liked to have stayed on," he adds.

And what accounts for such abandon and emotion in belting out the patriotic numbers which Argentinian sportsmen and women so often intone? "It's impossible to explain the feeling which unites Argentinian athletes every time we pull on this shirt. Each time we compete we think about the people and our loved ones. It might be down to the fact that we're a long-suffering people, which is different to the experience in Europe," says the captain, who currently ranks third on the list of the country's most-capped senior players, behind Diego Simeone and Oscar Ruggeri.  

But the Valencia defender's excitement does not end there. The Olympic spirit, the sight of each athlete striving to compete and the camaraderie present in Greece right now has touched him deeply.

"It's very moving to see athletes paying for their trips out of their own pockets, struggling day in day out to hold down a job so as to be able to train. Yesterday, the lads were speaking among themselves and we thought it would be nice to go and see some other sports, but we know it will be hard to fit it in because we're playing every three days. If I could choose I'd go see the basketball because Fabricio Oberto is playing and he's a friend of mine."

Second bite of the cherry

In 1996, Argentina looked to be heading for victory in the Olympic Final at Atlanta, but two late goals from Nigeria, one of them in the very last minute, meant that the Africans snatched gold from under the South Americans' noses (3-2). At the heart of defence in that team was none other Roberto Ayala, the same player who had to suffer a similar experience last 25 July as the Albicelestes went down to Brazil in the Final of the Copa America. 

"I never thought that I would compete in another Olympic Games after 1996. I see it as a reward for all the good things that have happened to me throughout my career. It's true that I've lost some finals, but I feel lucky enough just to have played in them," he says, while adding that "football always gives you a chance to get your own back. I'm aware that I still have to win something in this shirt, but we're going all out for Olympic gold."

Ayala missed the last FIFA World Cup™ in Korea/Japan through injury while warming up for Argentina's debut against Nigeria. 

The South Americans have kicked off their Athens campaign with a resounding 6-0 victory over Serbia and Montenegro in Group C. And now the next hurdle is Tunisia, who come fresh from a draw with Australia in their opening game.

"It will be hard to improve upon how we played against Serbia, especially in the first half. But we mustn't rest on our laurels because the Africans are an unknown quantity and that could be dangerous," he warns. "I don't see this team easing off because, though a lot of the squad are very young, they all have major experience of top-flight football."  

Argentina's footballers have got off to a flying start down the long road to an Olympic gold - a prize which has so far eluded the great footballing nation. Ayala and his young contenders are hoping their rich vein of form will continue.