Olympic Football Thread!

Olympic Preview 2012

Well where to start in this packed house of footballing talent to be put on display this Olympics, from the newest team to enter in Great Britain, the first time since 1974 to the footballing elite in Brazil. There is going to be some great footballing talent on display from the Brazilian wonder kids to the cool calm Spanish under 23s.

The Favorites;

Spain

Well let’s start with the current world and European champions Spain. Spain have entered a very young squad (I know the others are young too with the under 23 rule but Spain’s is considerably young and inexperienced at major international level) with only a few notable stand out players the world will recognise. Jordi Alba, Juan Mata, David de Gea and Adrian Lopez the most notable players you might recognise if you didn’t follow Spanish football properly. With the likes of Juan Mata and Jordi Alba being involved in the recent European success they will be on a high and passing down the experience to the others around them and hoping they can win the Olympics, to add it to the other recent success of the national team. Their success is going to come down to can they make the creativity the senior team creates, so there possession will count for something. If this happens they will be very comfortable in their group and should be looking to get to the finals.

Brazil

By far the best squad of the tournament bar none, so many world class players and season pro’s as over 23 players. The Brazilians have always had wonder kids coming through, but as of late they have had a real bunch coming through the ranks, with the likes of Neymar Oscar and Moura being the exceptional talents being nurtured. To add to these fantastic youths they have added in the seasoned pros of Thiago Silva and Hulk who have been around the top level for a while for club and country. The Brazilian media have been hyping up their chances for this Olympics and see themselves as favourites like the rest of the world, so there is a bit of pressure for the youngsters, but if they can produce the football they produce for club level I’m pretty sure Brazil will be an unstoppable and sublime force to watch.

Outsiders

Uruguay

I can’t help but look at the big names in the Uruguayan team and think; wow maybe they can do something here. The biggest name probably known is Suarez and well we all know he has the passion and the ability to score from anywhere on the pitch if given the ball enough. They are probably my 3rd favourites in the competition to do something, with an above average first 11 that know each other and can do a lot of damage if given the ball to do so. They will be organised and quick.

Great Britain

Probably, the next team who has the potential to do some damage is Great Britain, but with the way they look to be set up I can’t see them going too far in this competition. They have been built around the idea of keeping the ball with a lot of Swansea based players in the team with season pros of Ryan Giggs, Craig Bellamy and Micah Richards adding to the inexperienced youth in the side; will this work for Stuart Pearce? I think not. Giggs will be playing central midfield with Richards’s most likely centre back and Bellamy out wide on one of the wings as we will probably set up 4-3-3 with 2 wingers and a striker. Daniel Sturridge another good prospect of English football looking to recover from viral meningitis in time to make himself fit enough to play. The lack of goal scorers is another reason I think Great Britain will struggle, but maybe there is a chance of a few 1-0 wins to push them through, who knows it is football and they are the home team.