Football
The qualification criteria for football were the same as the international standards. For male European countries the first four ranked teams at the 2007 European Under-21 Championship would qualify. The Dutch men's team was first in the European under-21 Championship, claiming their second consecutive title and securing their spot in Beijing.
Read more about this topic: Netherlands At The 2008 Summer Olympics
Famous quotes containing the word football:
“...I’m not money hungry.... People who are rich want to be richer, but what’s the difference? You can’t take it with you. The toys get different, that’s all. The rich guys buy a football team, the poor guys buy a football. It’s all relative.”
—Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)
“People stress the violence. That’s the smallest part of it. Football is brutal only from a distance. In the middle of it there’s a calm, a tranquility. The players accept pain. There’s a sense of order even at the end of a running play with bodies stewn everywhere. When the systems interlock, there’s a satisfaction to the game that can’t be duplicated. There’s a harmony.”
—Don Delillo (b. 1926)
“Idon’t enjoy getting knocked about on a football field for other people’s amusement. I enjoy it if I’m being paid a lot for it.”
—David Storey (b. 1933)