2012 July | Soccer Football

Olympic Football Update

Jul 312012

Neymar and Oscar celebrate Neymars goal v Belarus

Neymar celebrates his free kick against Belarus with Chelsea's Oscar

As the group stages near a close, the Olympic football tournament has usurped many of the other Olympic sports, with its well attended events, entertaining matches, and (some) star players living up to expectations.

Chelsea fans will be encouraged by the solid start Oscar has made to the games with Brazil, with their new man playing well and grabbing himself a goal as the Selecao managed three goals in their first two matches. Neymar has also lived up to massive expectations, entertaining crowds across the country with his silky skills and supreme confidence, and a move to Europe looks like it should come sooner rather than later to aid his development in time for 2014.

Uruguay are the other team representing South America, and they’ve had a mixed tournament. Their captain Luis Suarez has been subject to booing around the country, and his performances have been sporadic, ranging from world class to very poor. He’s very much the pantomime villain for many fans who probably don’t even know why they’re booing him. After a shaky start to the games against and impressive UAE side, they changed formation to a more familiar four at the back and came back to win 2-1. They were then defeated by Senegal in the second game, as their defence looks as inconsistent as their captain. Uruguay and Suarez’s tournament will be defined by what happens in the match against team GB tomorrow.

Meanwhile, another favourite to win the competition – Spain – have found themselves bottom of their group with two defeats and already out of the tournament. A great disappointment for such a talented squad to go out so early, and a great disappointment for the young players who wanted to contribute to Spain’s winning habit by adding an Olympic medal.

Team GB have made a predictably steady start, with their Welsh wonders Craig Bellamy and Ryan Giggs acting as the team’s leaders in every way, creating and scoring goals and guiding the younger players on and off the pitch no doubt. Try telling these players that a Great British football team is irrelevant. It seems to be a great learning curve and an ideal introduction to international football for many of the players. Let’s hope the tradition continues and we can use it as other countries do to improve the future of their respective national teams.

Fun and Football at the London Olympics – Team GB

Olympic Football

Jul 262012

Steven Caulker representing England at youth level

Steven Caulker could be one of the few players to benefit from the Olympic football experience.

After a reasonable display against a strong Brazil team in the lead up to the mens Olympic football competition, team GB will be looking to get off to a good start in the group stages, in what could be a tricky first game against Senegal.

Anyone attending these games will have been presented with some ridiculous demands as to what you can and can’t take into the stadium with you, as the games organisers pander to their precious sponsors, at the expense of fun and enjoyment for paying spectators. Measures have been taken to tackle corruption at the Olympics, and maybe some more measures should be taken to tackle the killjoy organisation of the games.

But as mentioned in a previous article the football tournament should bring some life to the games, and some comedy blunders such as the one at Hampden Park where the North Korean womens team were introduced alongside a South Korean flag, will only add to the amusement as organisers concentrate more on the difference between Pepsi and Coke, than the difference between North and South Korea. This isn’t a political issue you want to be drawn into, and the North Koreans probably protested for their own safety, rather than because of any true offense taken.

And speaking of comical blunders, the British team will have to learn to play as a team unit fairly quickly if they are to avoid any embarrassment early on in the tournament. Uruguay are the favourites to take the group, with their evolving team featuring the players next in line to take up roles in the main senior side, and Senegal will also be looking to blood some young players for possible involvement in their African Nations squad next year. Here is where we begin to see another disadvantage for Team GB.

For Team GB there is nothing to build towards. It’s sadly looking like participation in the Olympic football tournament will be a one off only because Britain are hosting the games. Welsh players such as Joe Allen, Aaron Ramsey, and Neil Taylor will be fixtures in any future Welsh sides, but it’s questionable as to how many of the English players in the side will become permanent fixtures in future England squads. If Steven Caulker can force himself into the Spurs first team and perform as he did during his loan spell at Swansea, then he could become an important player for England in the future, but other than him, and possibly Cleverley, Sturridge, and the two goalkeepers, it’s difficult to see where any continuity will come from this Olympic experience.

Maybe team GB should have rethink and take future Olympic tournaments as seriously as the South Americans do, even if Scotland are going to cry off and not be a part of it. A serious Olympic under 23 squad could provide a platform for younger players to gain confidence at international level, and a medal or two could lead to a winning mentality that is currently alien to English and Welsh squads. It might even be a tournament that GB are in with a realistic chance of winning, but probably not this year.

Olympic Football Preview – Livening up The Games

Jul 222012

Sandro Scores for Brazil against Team GB in a pre-Olympic warm up game.

If watching people chasing each other around a track, or throwing objects around on a field isn’t your idea of entertainment, then there are plenty of other sports at the Olympic games to keep you half interested. After the much hyped build up to the games it’s natural to feel disappointed when you realise athletics isn’t really that good to watch, and the goings on at your local baths are more exciting than the 200 metre freestyle swimming. To put it in a football context, it’s similar to the build up to an England performance at a major tournament – all hype, expectation, sponsorship and waffle – but not much of an end product.

The build up the the football at the London games has been somewhat underwhelming, with only a story about David Beckham’s non-selection making any headlines, and some Scottish people getting angry about nothing for no reason.

Team GB are taking part in the competition for the first time since 600 BC when an Iron Age XI were sent to Greece to compete in an early form of the game. They triumphed against the Greeks but were crushed by the Romans in the latter stages.

Back in the present day Team GB (representing Wales and England) have been reformed, but success in the tournament will be a tough ask for Stuart Pearce’s charges. Having been thrown together on a whim they will have to learn to play and gel as a team in a short space of time, whereas most of the other nations involved, especially the South Americans and Spain, are using this as a warm up to their World Cup campaigns in the build up to 2014. These nations already have established internationals in their side, and it’s just a case of which young players will shine in this tournament enough to break into the senior team permanently.

Brazil and the Class for 2014

These differences were evident in the recent warm up game between Team GB and Brazil. The Brazilian side contained players such as Oscar, Neymar, Damiao, Rafael, Romulo, Pato, Ganso, Lucas Moura, Danilo, and goalkeeper Rafael Cabral; all of whom are emerging as top class players, and all of whom meet the under 23 criteria for the Olympic squad. Thiago Silva, one of the best centre backs in world football, Marcelo of Real Madrid, and the in demand forward Hulk have been added to their squad as their quota of three over 23 players, and here you begin to see the gulf in class between the favourites and Team GB. The British side did well to limit the score to 2-0 on Friday, all things considered.

Uruguay and the British Group

The next obstacles for Team GB to overcome will appear in the shape of Uruguay, Senegal, and UAE in the group stages of the tournament. Uruguay will be looking to evolve their squad after winning the Copa America in 2011, and take the team to the next level for the 2014 campaign. One of the overachievers in international football – taking into account their population and relatively small pool of players compared to other nations – Uruguay have chosen Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani, and defensive midfielder Edigo Arevalo Rios as their overage players, with their aforementioned captain Suarez being considered by many as one of the best players in international football. If this wasn’t enough they also have their own bunch of future stars. Defenders Sebastian Coates and Alexis Rolin are set to be the senior team’s future centre back pairing and they also have an attacking threat from players such as Gaston Ramirez, Abel Hernandez, and the newcomer to the international scene, Jonathan Urretaviscaya.

With the top two from each group going through to the knockout stages, Great Britain will also have to look out for the Senegalese side. Having chosen an over 23 trio of Papa Gueye, Mohamed Diame, and prolific striker Dame N’Doye they will be looking for performances to from younger players to stake their claim for inclusion in the senior side as they prepare for January’s African Nations tournament.

Contenders Ready – Spain, Mexico and South Korea

Jordi Alba Scoring for Spain in Euro 2012

After dominating international football in recent years, Spain will be hoping to add Olympic gold to their trophy haul and further enhance their reputation as one of the best international teams of all time. This under 23 squad is the next wave of players who are similar in style to the main squad, and look set to slot into a senior role with ease, as and when required. All players in the team have at least one senior cap, and they have three players in Juan Mata, Jordi Alba, and Javi Martinez who were part of the recent European Championship winning squad. Stars such as David de Gea, Cesar Azpilicueta, Iker Munain, and Cristian Tello could consider themselves unlucky to not already be in the senior squad regularly, such is the depth of talent in Spanish football at the moment.

Of the other contenders Mexico are probably the strongest with South Korea as the obligatory surprise package. Mexico will turn out a side of stereotypically quick minded, quick footed, technically gifted players which will give any slow defensive lines a few worries. Giovani dos Santos, wasted by harry Redknapp at Spurs, still qualifies as an under 23 player despite already having 59 senior caps on his coat hanger. South Korea also have a relatively experienced side for this age group, and will look to English based strikers Park Chu-Young and Ji Dong-Won to fire them into the latter stages.

That’s Entertainment (kind of)

The football tournament at the Olympics may not lead to stadium sell outs and two hour build up programs on multiple TV channels, but nations such as Spain, Uruguay, and Brazil will offer fans a chance to see the future stars of international football, and if Team GB can get some team unity within a short space of time they might put up a good fight. You’ll still have to put up with those pesky BBC “commentators” though.

Can We Have Our Jogo Bonito Back Please?

Brazilian Football

Jul 012012

Romulo celebrates his first Brazil goal with Neymar.

Brazil is the birthplace of the beautiful game, or as they call it – o jogo bonito. Since Charles Miller arrived in the Sao Paulo port Santos with a couple of footballs and a set of rules, the Brazilians have been going about the game of football in their own way, and in their own time. Eradicating the staidness of the British game they were presented with; they created a style of football which incorporated parts of their carnival culture, their religious beliefs, and a sense of individual flair which has made the Brazillian national team a worldwide attraction.

Then the Tika-Takas at Barcelona and Spain came along claimed the beautiful game as their own. Barcelona posses the trickery, flair, and creativity of a Brazilian footballing maestro, but present it in the form of a whole team rather than an individual. Recent claims that the Spanish style is boring to watch, might give Brazil the impetus to reintroduce their own style of the beautiful game to the masses, and take back what is rightfully theirs. Santos’ thrashing by Barcelona in the Club World Cup was a microcosm of what is happening on a world scale, but that defeated team might contain two of the players who will help Brazil reclaim o jogo bonito, just in time for 2014.

You’ll have heard of one of these players – the Brazilian wonderkid Neymar – and you might have heard of his team mate Ganso, who is to Neymar what Xavi is to Messi. These two have been much lauded by fellow and former professionals, and this praise has accompanied by the usual hype from journalists, and the self proclaimed football experts of the interweb.

Luckily for Brazil, these aren’t the only players emerging from the country to stake their claim for a part in the Selecao’s future endeavours. And a few of these players could even match the heights of the aforementioned Santos pair.

Two of these young stars have already been linking up at Porto Alegre side Internacional, and their performances have resulted in call ups to the Selecao and secured them a place in the Brazil u23 Olympic side for 2012. The first, Leandro Damiao, is a centre forward who possesses the pace and power to lead a line, and ruffle the feathers of even some of the more physical defenders around. These attributes have led to interest from sides in the English Premier League who are normally wary of signing from the Brazilian league, as well as teams across Europe. The second of these young Internacional stars is Oscar, who lit up the under 20s world cup in 2011 with a hat trick in the final, which helped his side beat Portugal 3-2 AET to win the trophy.

Maybe the most unassuming of the current bunch of Brazilian wonderkids, is the midfielder Romulo, who recently signed for Spartak Moscow from Rio side Vasco da Gama. Born in the city of Picos in North East Brazil, Romulo is the type of unsung hero who will knit together a team of more flamboyant stars, and is as strong in defence as he is in attack. Comfortable on the ball (he’s Brazilian), Romulo is good in the air and tenacious in the tackle. He could be described as a cross between Liverpool’s Lucas Leiva, and Sandro of Tottenham Hotspur, both of whom could see their place in national team squads under threat from the 21 year old in the near future. At 8m Euros Spartak might have just got themselves a bargain.

An often used phrase in football is that history only remembers winners, but ask anyone about the best football teams in history and many will mention the Brazil side of 1982, who didn’t win anything, but entertained the spectators with their style and flair. The new generation will hope to do the same, but add the winning mentality of the world cup winning sides. With tiki taka starting to send many onlookers into a slumber with its hypnotic rhythm, the stage is set for a new generation of Brazilian footballers to wake people up with the latest incarnation of o jogo bonito. The alarm is set for the 12^th of June, 2014.