Argentina successfully defended its Athens Games gold in the Bird's Nest on Saturday, but events off the pitch have made sure little else about Olympic soccer will be the same again.
When the teams line up for the first match in London in 2012, one change may well be immediately apparent. The rule allowing countries to include three overage players in their Under-23 squads is soon to come under review, and is not expected to survive.
Such a change would deprive the London Games of many of the stars who helped draw big crowds in China, but another decision, taken on the eve of the Beijing Olympics, will have far more serious repercussions.