Olympics 2012: What to Watch for in Friday's Action

The 2012 London Olympic Games are beginning to wind down, and Sunday's closing ceremonies will soon bring to an end to the Games of the XXX Olympiad.

As is usually the case, the London Games have featured plenty of thrills, excitement, and upsets galore. The last Friday in London will all but certainly be no different, and here are some can't-miss highlights that should send the Olympics into their final weekend on a high note.

Men's Handball - Semifinals (Hungary vs. Sweden): 12:00 Noon EDT

I've been hyping handball, an exciting blend of basketball, soccer and rugby that has to be seen to be truly appreciated, since before the Olympics began. To this point, the men's draw has proceeded more or less as expected, with European nations dominating the field.

Friday's first semifinal match features the Hungarians and Swedes, a pair of teams that didn't make it into the men's tournament in the Beijing Games four years ago. This time has been much different, however, as the winner of this match will advance to face the victor of France vs. Croatia for a shot at the gold medal.

In fact, the most interesting thing about this match, as Yahoo! Sports recently reported, may not even occur on the court. You can bet that at some point during the match cameras will pan to get a shot of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, who is apparently a vocal supporter of his nation's club.

Men's Basketball - Semifinals (United States vs. Argentina): 4:00 P.M. EDT

If you're a little more into sports that you actually understand, then there will be plenty of action a bit later in the day when the latest incarnation of "The Dream Team," featuring the likes of Miami Heat forward LeBron James and Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant takes to the hardwood to battle against Argentina in the second men's semifinal.

This is the third time in three weeks that the United States and Argentina, led by San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, have faced one another.

Their last matchup in the final game of pool play was a testy affair won by the United States that featured a number of so-called "cheap shots" by both teams, and as U.S. guard Chris Paul recently told The Sporting News he expects another hotly contested battle.

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“It’s somewhat of a rivalry,” Paul said. “I definitely think so. This will be our third time playing them in the last two or three weeks. We’ve got to get out to a good start. They are going to have their crowd behind them, and we’ve got to come out and impose our will.”

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Men's Taekwondo - 80 kg (Gold Medal Final): 5:30 P.M. EDT

The world of competitive taekwondo has been rocked by its fair share of scandals over the past several years, and this year's Olympic Games have been no different. Aaron Cook of Great Britain, the top ranked fighter in the world, was shockingly left off the British Olympic team in a decision that led to allegations of corruption against British Taekwondo.

With that said, the competitors that are in London for the men's 80 kg and under event will get down to business Friday. They are headlined by top-seeded Ramin Azizov of Azerbaijan, who will face American Steven Lopez in the first round of the tournament.

The 33-year-old Lopez, who will be competing in his fourth Olympics, is trying for his third gold medal and can become the most decorated athlete in the sport's short Olympic history with another medal.

That fact hasn't escaped the attention of the man dubbed "Mr. Taekwondo," but as Lopez recently relayed to The Guardian, he's also quite aware that he has his work cut out for him.

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It's truly a global sport. At one time, it was only Korea taking all the medals, but at the 2010 world championships every single weight class had a world champion from different countries. Like Croatia, Mali, Azerbaijan, Turkey – they're all winning world championship and Olympic medals. It's a very competitive field. I haven't even mentioned Iran, they just won the Olympic qualifiers.

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