Brazil defeats Belgium for soccer bronze

BEIJING, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Diego opened the scoring in the 28th minute Friday and Brazil went on to claim the men's Olympic soccer bronze medal with a 3-0 victory over Belgium.

The Brazilians had been embarrassed by Argentina in the semifinals earlier this week but made sure they would not go home empty handed.

Argentina and Nigeria will play Saturday for the gold medal.

Despite its long tradition of winning soccer on the international stage, Brazil has never won an Olympic gold medal. The Brazilians lost in the semifinals in 1996 and fell in the gold medal game in both 1988 and 1984.