SOCCER - Olympic dream near for Erceg

Football Ferns defender Abby Erceg isn't fooling herself about how difficult it will be to progress into the second round of the Olympics.
The former FC Whangarei player's place in the 18-strong Olympic squad was confirmed on Thursday.
"It's not going to be easy, we're trying to be realistic about the group games, if we are going to win a game it's going to be after a lot of hard work, there are no pushovers at the Olympics."
The Football Ferns open their campaign with a match against Japan, before taking on two of the powerhouses of the women's game, the United States and Norway.
"They left the best `til last but you know, it's a tournament so anything can happen, and I've kind of been looking at the USA and studying their players a lot, so we can try and take them out of the game," the 18-year-old said.
New Zealand are targeting one win and a draw in the group stages to see them through to the quarter-finals.
Despite being a rising star, Erceg admitted she was relieved to be named in the Olympic squad. "No matter how well you've played recently, there's always that nagging doubt that you're going to get left out so it felt pretty good when they named the team."
Five of the squad at the recent Peace Queen Cup tournament didn't make the cut, as the injured players they had replaced, including Kirsty Yallop, Marlies Oostdam and Rebecca Tegg, recovered to force them out of the squad.
The tournament proved New Zealand are ready for their shot at Olympic glory, with their 1-0 win over South American champs Argentina, the first win outside of Oceania for 15 years. "It was great for us, because it was so random. A team dropped out and we were invited to play and it turned out pretty good for us, although we really wanted to get through to the next round ... but that's New Zealand really, we're still working our way up."
The team started with a disappointing 1-2 loss to hosts South Korea, before beating Argentina and a final 0-2 loss to Canada.
The team leaves for a warm-up tour next weekend with five matches in Australia, China and Singapore, before it heads back to China for the Olympics opening ceremony.
• New Zealand: Goalkeepers: Jenny Bindon, Rachel Howard; Defenders: Anna Green, Abby Erceg, Kristy Hill, Marlies Oostdam, Ria Percival, Rebecca Smith; Midfielders: Katie Hoyle, Emily McColl, Hayley Moorwood, Ali Riley, Kirsty Yallop; Forwards: Amber Hearn, Emma Kete, Renee Leota, Merissa Smith, Rebecca Tegg.