Thessaloniki, Greece - Iraq's dream of an Olympic soccer gold medal ended on Tuesday as Paraguay scored a 3-1 victory to set up a South American showdown with Argentina in the final.
Jose Cardozo scored two first-half goals and Fredy Bareiro made it four in three games as Paraguay outplayed the gallant Iraqis in the semi-final.
Razzaq Farhan's strike for Iraq eight minutes from the end had their noisy fans roaring but turned out to be no more than consolation.
Iraq coach Adnan Hamad said his players were convinced the first goal was offside and it affected their performance the rest of the game.
"The first goal was offside. We saw it on the video," he said. "The players wanted to win the game and go to the final but the first goal made them a little bit down. It was a big influence on the game.
"They were under pressure because it was important to win this game."
Argentina had already beaten Italy 3-0 in the other semi-final and the result is that a new champion will be crowned at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday because neither finalist has won the title.
Tuesday's victory guarantees Paraguay their first Olympic medal of any kind and it will be silver at least, while Iraq face Italy for the bronze in Thessaloniki on Friday.
"It's very important for us that we have won a medal," Paraguay coach Carlos Jara said. "We will now try and fulfill this dream of winning the gold medal in the Olympic Games. This will raise our country's profile very much."
The loss was a letdown for the 1 000 or so Iraqi fans who banged drums, waved flags and chanted constantly at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium.
"The fans play a very important role in the game," Hamad said. "We thank our fans and we thank the Greece fans for their support throughout all the duration of the competition. Throughout the championship we gained a lot of people supporting us from all over."
While Argentina and Italy were expected to reach the last four, Iraq have been the big surprise of the tournament, especially in the context of the daily bombings and shootings back home.
The players qualified for both the Olympics and the Asian Cup finals without being able to play a single game on home turf while fearing for friends and family back home.
Iraq reached the semi-finals after beating medal contender Portugal 4-2, Costa Rica 2-0 and Australia 1-0. Despite a 2-1 loss to Morocco, Hamad's men finished top of their group.
