RIO DE JANEIRO -- In the last three Olympics it was a semifinal matchup, the penultimate step on the winners climb to the gold-medal podium.Now the U.S. mens basketball team meets Argentina in the quarterfinals, and the stakes couldnt be clearer.The Americans win, or suffer their greatest Olympic failure ever.The Argentines win, or say goodbye to their Golden Generation.Manu Ginobili and Luis Scola did the punching when the U.S. was knocked down to its lowest point 12 years ago, and the Americans, whove handled them every time since, expect their proud opponents to have one last good fight in them.Guys like that, theyve been together and so well-coached and theyve helped international basketball take giant steps forward, and we know thats what were playing on Wednesday, U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said.Its the third game of quarterfinal Wednesday, which opens with Australia playing Lithuania. Rivals France and Spain play next -- with the winner getting the U.S.-Argentina winner -- and Croatia faces Serbia in the nightcap.Any of those teams should believe in its chances after the Americans were challenged like never before under Krzyzewski in the preliminary round, winning their last three games by 10, three and three points.Its a far cry from last month, when the U.S. beat Argentina 111-74 in an exhibition game in Las Vegas, back when even rival teams seemed to be conceding gold to the Americans.Nobody is doing that now.When we played them a month ago, I said what I thought it was. We werent there, we couldnt compete, Scola said. A month went by, I dont know, maybe they didnt play that well this month, they got a little comfortable and play a little worse. Maybe we got better this month and the difference is much smaller. Maybe.Its just one game, anything can happen. But we dont think its going to be easy.Nor do the Americans, still thinking of what Argentina used to be, instead of the team it is now.Ginobili is 39 and Scola 36, almost certainly playing in their last Olympics, and the aging Argentines looked out of gas Monday when they were blown out by Spain, two days after needing two overtimes to outlast Brazil 111-107. They lack size to match the Americans tandem of DeMarcus Cousins and DeAndre Jordan -- the 6-foot-8 Scola often has to play center -- and at times in the exhibition rout it appeared the U.S. could keep grabbing offensive rebounds until it finally scored.But inside Carioca Arena 1, which has been filled with so much light blue and white during Argentinas games that it resembles clouds in the sky, the Americans believe their undersized opponents will stand tall.They match up with anybody in that they will put their heart, their soul and their bodies out on the court against you, and anybody that does that has a chance to win, Krzyzewski said. And Ive never seen an Argentina team go on the court not thinking that they could win and we expect that from them.The U.S. teams that won gold in 2008 and 2012 overpowered Argentina in the semifinals, but those teams were loaded with All-NBA players. This is just an NBA team, not an All-NBA one, not after players such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Russell Westbrook stayed home.Thats left these Americans looking more like 2004, when they scrambled to put together an unprepared team that didnt have much of a talent advantage on its opponents. The U.S. was beaten 89-81 in the semis by Argentina, which then beat Italy for the championship, earning its Golden Generation nickname.Carmelo Anthony, in his fourth Olympics, remembers watching part of the gold-medal game with the Americans, who had to hang around to collect their bronze medals.It was just hard to watch, he said. That was a moment where we expected to kind of be at. We werent there. We werent the champions of the world at that point in time.That third-place finish matched the Americans worst at the Olympics, one of only three times in their 17 appearances they didnt win gold.Lose Wednesday, and they watch Argentina celebrate again -- and this time leave an Olympics empty-handed for the first time.They can shoot and theyre playing with confidence. But at the end of the day, its about us, U.S. forward Kevin Durant said. I understand were playing against Argentina and we respect them, but its about how we come out.---AP Sports Writer Tom Withers contributed to this report.---Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney Chaussure Salomon Destockage . Belfort (24-10) needed just 77 seconds to down Henderson in the headlining bout of Saturdays "UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson" event at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. The fight served as a rematch of the pairs 2006 meeting, which Henderson won by decision. Chaussure Salomon Pas Cher . Now tied for second in the league in shootout goals, the 24-year-old likes to see what the opposing goaltender has in store before he ultimately lands on a move. http://www.paschersalomon.fr/ . The Olympic champion curler and TSN curling analyst immediately went online to look at the Halls long list of honoured members. Thats when the enormity of the honour sunk in. Acheter Salomon Pas Cher .com) - The Chicago Blackhawks aim for their third three-game winning streak of the season when they host the struggling Edmonton Oilers in Sundays battle at the United Center. Salomon Pas Cher Chine . Hamelin, who triumphed in the 500 on Saturday, edged out Victor An of Russia by 0.021 seconds to maintain his lead in the World Cup standings. Russias Vladimir Grigorev was third. In the relay, Canada took control six laps from the finish line to beat Russia and the Netherlands. A rare Pablo Zabaleta strike set Manchester City on their way to their first home win in almost three months, 2-0 against Watford at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.Watford started the game fairly defensively, hoping to utilise the pace of Jerome Sinclair against a leaky defence, and despite relinquishing most of the possession, they limited City to few chances for most of the opening period. They lost Roberto Pereyra on the half hour mark to injury, and just three minutes later they were behind. Zabaleta, afforded some freedom to attack by the deep-lying Yaya Toure, bombed forward and was completely unmarked at the far post to finish off Kevin De Bruynes excellent cross.Worryingly for City fans, Ilkay Gundogan also picked up a knock in the first half and had to be replaced, which combined with a number of niggly fouls affected the flow of the game and left you wanting more at the break.The second half waas better as Watford started to open up a little, especially with the introduction of a lively Isaac Success, and probably should have equalised through Odion Ighalo.dddddddddddd But it was this adventure that ultimately proved their downfall, as they got caught in possession in the middle of the park, leaving them too light at the back. There are few better players you would want on a break than Raheem Sterling and David Silva, and they combined to allow the latter to finish smartly past Heurelho Gomes with just four minutes to go, effectively ending the match.Manchester City needed a win after some below-par performances, and Pep Guardiola will be pleased his side managed to end their losing streak at home and secure a clean sheet. Arsenal up next for the title challengers. China NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Online Stitched Hockey Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys Football Jerseys Outlet College Jerseys For Sale Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys For Sale Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '