Olympic men's soccer favorites all booked their quarterfinal berths on Sunday as host China lost to Belgium 2-0.

The Azzurri finished off South Korea 3-0. Guiseppe Rossi opened scoring before Tommaso Rocchi and Riccardo Montolivo added two goals.

With six goals in two matches, Italy is to play a quarterfinal match against Cameroon on Wednesday.

Brazil crushed New Zealand 5-0 as Ronaldinho fired two goals home. For the two-time FIFA World Player of Year, it was probably his best way to declare a high-profile recovery.

Midfielder Anderson opened the scoring for Brazil, and AC Milan's 19-year-old striking prodigy Alexandre Pato enlarged the lead in the 34th minute. Not satisfied with the 4-0 lead, forward Rafael Sobis, who replaced Pato 20 minutes before the final whistle, put in another easy goal in the stoppage time.

Argentina ground out a 1-0 victory against a defence-minded Australia. Striker Ezequiel Lavezzi took the winner in the 77th minute with a well-taken volley at the far post following substitute forward Angel Di Maria's cunning cross left him unmarked in the box.

Italy, Brazil and Argentina, with two wins in as many matches, have thus advanced to the quarterfinals.

In an otherwise perfect day for China that collected three gold medals on Sunday, the host soccer team lost to Belgium 2-0 with defender Tan Wangsong and midfielder Zheng Zhi sent off as a result of kicking and elbowing their opponents.

In other matches, Cote d'Ivoire beat Serbia 4-2, the United States drew the Netherlands 2-2, Nigeria edged Japan 2-1, Cameroon took over Honduras 1-0.

(Xinhua News Agency August 11, 2008)