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Britain to face Senegal in first game

The Senegal team celebrates beating Oman in their men's final Olympic playoff in Coventry, central England April 23, 2012. REUTERS/Darren Staples

By Mike Collett

LONDON (Reuters) – Hosts Britain, taking part in their first Olympic soccer

event since 1960, will kick off the bid for gold against Senegal at Manchester United’s Old Trafford on July 26 after the

draw was made at Wembley on Tuesday.

The

Senegal team celebrates beating Oman in their men's final Olympic playoff in Coventry, central England April 23, 2012.

REUTERS/Darren Staples

Senegal reached their first Olympics after beating Oman 2-0 in a playoff at the City of Coventry

Stadium on Monday.

“It is such an honour to play against Britain in the opening match at Old Trafford,” Augustin

Senghor, the president of the Senegalese FA, told Reuters.

“I know we were the last to arrive in these finals after

the playoff last night, but I hope that we will not be the first to leave. We will also field our strongest team and see if

our players at Newcastle like Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse can be involved.”

Britain will also meet Uruguay and United

Arab Emirates in Group A.

Brazil, five-times World Cup winners but never Olympic champions, face Egypt, Belarus and

New Zealand in Group C.

Spain, gold medallists in 1992 and the world and European champions, take on Japan, Honduras

and Morocco in Group D while seeded Mexico meet South Korea, Gabon and Switzerland in Group B.

The first event of the

Olympics takes place at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on July 25, two days before the opening ceremony, when the British

women’s soccer team play New Zealand in Group E. Cameroon and Brazil are in the same section.

Hope Powell, Britain’s

women’s coach said: “(I am) really excited by the prospect of playing the first event of the entire Olympic Games. It gives

us a tremendous chance to showcase our sport and we cannot wait to play.”

Women’s world champions Japan face Sweden,

South Africa and Canada in Group F while Olympic champions United States take on France, Colombia and North Korea in Group

G.

The women’s final is at Wembley on August 9 followed by the men’s two days later.

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