Ginobili all but writes off Argentine hopes

By Alastair Himmer

BEIJING (Reuters) - Argentina's Manu Ginobili has all but written off his team's chances of beating the United States in the semi-finals of the men's Olympic basketball competition.

"We know they are by far the best team in the tournament," said the San Antonio Spurs guard. Ginobili scored 24 points to help the 2004 gold medalists beat Greece 80-78 on Wednesday to reach the last four.

"We know we have to play a perfect game and that's probably not going to be enough. They will have to play a bad game too."

The United States trampled Australia 116-85 in their quarter-final to underline their status as overwhelming gold medal favorites in Beijing.

The Americans have been the dominant team in the men's tournament, destroying their opponents by well over 30 points a game. The Argentines are expected to provide their first real test in Friday's game, but Ginobili played down his side's chances.

"We will need a brilliant strategy to beat them," said Ginobili, the tournament's leading points scorer. "We can't afford to make mistakes because they will make you pay.

"We know we have to make our shots. They're the big favorites. We have maybe a five or 10 percent chance of winning but we will try to go for a miracle."

(Editing by Keith Weir)