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By Brian Homewood
BEIJING, Aug 12 (Reuters) - New Zealand's slim hopes of reaching the Olympic soccer quarter-finals suffered another blow when captain Ryan Nelson was summoned by Blackburn Rovers for the new English season.
Nelson, returning to England to play for Blackburn on Saturday, had been one of only three professionals in the New Zealand squad and one of their three permitted over-age players in the under-23 tournament.
Hammered 5-0 by Brazil on Sunday and bottom of Group C with one point, New Zealand need to beat Belgium on Wednesday to have any chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals.
A draw will be enough for Belgium unless China can pull off a stunning upset win against Brazil, who have already qualified.
Serbia, another team with only an outside chance, will be at full strength against already qualified Argentina after settling a club-versus-country dispute with Partizan Belgrade.
Partizan had asked Ljubomir Fejsa and Zoran Tosic to return home for a Champions League tie with Fenerbahce but coach Miroslav Djukic said the pair were staying in China.
"All 18 players are here and we will play with a full squad," said Djukic, whose team need to win the Group A match and hope that Australia beat Ivory Coast, the favourites to follow Argentina through from Group A.
Cameroon need one point against bottom team Japan to follow Italy through from Group D while Group B remains wide open.
The United States and Nigeria, level on four points each, meet in Beijing while the Netherlands, who have two points, take on Japan, who have none.
Goal difference, rather than the head-to-head rule, is used if teams are level on points.
