2012 London Summer Olympics football tournament

[Giles Daldanus]

Here is the group stage draw, some excellent matches to come! Teams can select three over-age players (older than 23 years).

Group A: Great Britain, Senegal, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay.
Group B: South Korea, Mexico, Gabon, Switzerland
Group C: Brazil, Egypt, Belarus, New Zealand
Group D: Spain, Japan, Honduras, Morocco

My guesses for the over-age footballers who will be chosen to participate:

Great Britain – Gareth Bale, Jack Wilshere, Scott Parker
Uruguay – Luis Suarez, Diego Forlan, Diego Lugano or Alvaro Pereira
Brazil – not sure, maybe Ronaldinho, Kaka, Robinho?
Spain – Xavi Hernandez, Carles Puyol, David Villa (especially if he misses Euro 2012) or Fernando Llorente?

Belarus U23 are a possible dark horse…last summer they were two minutes away from beating the very talented Spain U21 and reaching the final of the 2011 UEFA U21 championship. The Eastern Slavs have some exciting young players like Drahun, Veretilo, Filipenko and Zubovich. Their group is tough, but I think that they can advance at the expense of Egypt or New Zealand (however, the “Kiwis” and the “Pharaohs” are no pushovers).

 

[frederic38]

it will be strange to see an "united kingdom" team
a good oportunity to see gareth bale play with a good national team


something i wanted to post in the diego forlan thread but i will post it here because it's relevant
i mentionned that forlan wasn't very popular in uruguay
even after the 2010 world cup

there was a poll on one of the biggest uruguayan website recently to ask who the uruguayans wanted in the team for the olympics (to choose the 3 over 23 years old players)
you had to choose 3 players

here are the results:

1- luis suarez
2- cavani
3- diego lugano
4- arevalo rios
5- martin caceres
6- muslera
7- diego perez
8- diego forlan

http://www.elobservador.com.uy/noticia/222837/ayudemos-al-maestro-tabarez/

and it's not because forlan is not doing good with internazionale, since lugano is third while he does much worse in paris saint germain (both are world class players who are criminally under-rated and not considered good enough to play - lugano NEVER plays in paris)

in this poll, i voted for lugano, forlan and scotti
i will probably root for uruguay, and hope that belarus will do well
but in the youth tournaments, brazil is alway dangerous

 

[Europe]

"Great Britain – Gareth Bale, Jack Wilshere, Scott Parker

Wilshere is only 20, but I doubt he will play. They are saying he might not even be back for the beginning of the season. I would rather have him play in the Euros if he is healthy, but it's highly unlikely.

Parker will play in the Euros, so I don't know if he will play in both tournaments.

Bale will just turn 23 in July, so he isn't over 23 either.

 

[Porthos]

Here is the group stage draw, some excellent matches to come! Teams can select three over-age players (older than 23 years).

Group A: Great Britain, Senegal, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay.
Group B: South Korea, Mexico, Gabon, Switzerland
Group C: Brazil, Egypt, Belarus, New Zealand
Group D: Spain, Japan, Honduras, Morocco

My guesses for the over-age footballers who will be chosen to participate:

Great Britain – Gareth Bale, Jack Wilshere, Scott Parker
Uruguay – Luis Suarez, Diego Forlan, Diego Lugano or Alvaro Pereira
Brazil – not sure, maybe Ronaldinho, Kaka, Robinho?
Spain – Xavi Hernandez, Carles Puyol, David Villa (especially if he misses Euro 2012) or Fernando Llorente?

Belarus U23 are a possible dark horse…last summer they were two minutes away from beating the very talented Spain U21 and reaching the final of the 2011 UEFA U21 championship. The Eastern Slavs have some exciting young players like Drahun, Veretilo, Filipenko and Zubovich. Their group is tough, but I think that they can advance at the expense of Egypt or New Zealand (however, the “Kiwis†and the “Pharaohs†are no pushovers).

What a weird tournament - no Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Argentina... but we have Gabon, Honduras, Belarus, New Zealand? What were the qualification criteria?

 

[Europe]

What a weird tournament - no Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Argentina... but we have Gabon, Honduras, Belarus, New Zealand? What were the qualification criteria?

It was a tournament.

 

[frederic38]

from what i understand, there was one tournament per continent

then they gave 2 berths to south america confused
3 to asia
4 to africa
2 to north america and central america
1 to oceania
3 to europe icon_confused


(honduras is there because USA messed up - see here: http://www.castefootball.us/forums/...rgen-Klinsmann?p=244132&viewfull=1#post244132)

they can do this because it's a different competition to the world cup (otherwise there should be more south american and european countries), where african teams did well compared to the world cups because it's a youth competition and their players are always older than they pretend to be

the teams that qualified throught the european tournament are surprising, but they deserve to be there
italy (with 2 blacks/11 players) lost to belarus in the playoffs
netherlands lost to ukraine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_UEFA_European_Under-21_Football_Championship_qualification
[h=1][/h]

 

[MilanClass]

Yes, I will be rooting for Uruguay as well. I do enjoy watching Spain but you have to respect a nation of only 3.5 million people that can produce so many world class talents. Hard to believe about Uruguayans not liking Forlan. I wonder why?

How does Africa have more spots than any other region?? The number of teams should be proportional to what FIFA gives for the World Cup. Having 4 African nations is just silly. Nobody wants to watch them. It's bad for viewership and ratings. I guess the only bright side of having more Africa nations is that Frederic will have more material for his Bad Defenders compilation video. :rofl:

 

[Rebajlo]

I believe that the Olympic football tournament is an unmitigated waste of time. The Olympics are supposed to feature the cream of a sport's talent, yet the football component is a ridiculous U-23 affair, with a smattering of "over age" players. It's simply an embarrassment, particularly when viewed through the prism of the setting. Yes, yes, I know why this is so, but in my not-so-neutral opinion it would be better to dispense with the entire farce altogether...

What a weird tournament - no Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Argentina... but we have Gabon, Honduras, Belarus, New Zealand? What were the qualification criteria?

What's so weird about it? Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Argentina all had a chance to qualify - yet failed.

What's the problem with Belarus? Not "glamorous" enough? It appears that many people believe that the so-called "big nations" have some sort of hereditary right to qualify for tournaments and if they don't, the finals are somehow "poorer" for it. In case You hadn't noticed, that's a variant of "caste system" thinking as well...

So what's the point of even playing qualifiers? Should it be compulsory for nations like Belarus to meekly lie down and permit the likes of Italy to take up their "rightful" place in the finals?

Well, Italy could have featured at the Olympics - if they hadn't lost 3-2 on aggregate to Belarus in the European U-21 Championship qualification playoffs. The same goes for the Netherlands - if Ukraine hadn't knocked them out on away goals at the same stage. So could Germany - if they hadn't finished third behind the Czech Republic and Iceland in their qualifying group.

When it comes to Germany, that's a real shame, that is - I'm sure everyone would be thrilled to see their blacks and Turks in action. Yeah, who wants an all-White team like Belarus in place of black-and-Muslim-infested Germany, the Netherlands, and Portugal? It's bad enough that the Albanian-black-Turkish aberration which is Switzerland have qualified, while Spain shall doubtlessly include the Negro pair Thiago Alcantara and Emilio Nsue...

One could just as easily complain about the absence of Australia. After all, Australia were the number one seeds in the Asian qualification section. The only problem was that we didn't win a single match in the group stage, finishing last behind the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Iraq. Damned injustice, that...

 

[Giles Daldanus]

something i wanted to post in the diego forlan thread but i will post it here because it's relevant
i mentionned that forlan wasn't very popular in uruguay
even after the 2010 world cup

there was a poll on one of the biggest uruguayan website recently to ask who the uruguayans wanted in the team for the olympics (to choose the 3 over 23 years old players)
you had to choose 3 players

here are the results:

1- luis suarez
2- cavani
3- diego lugano
4- arevalo rios
5- martin caceres
6- muslera
7- diego perez
8- diego forlan

http://www.elobservador.com.uy/notic...estro-tabarez/

and it's not because forlan is not doing good with internazionale, since lugano is third while he does much worse in paris saint germain (both are world class players who are criminally under-rated and not considered good enough to play - lugano NEVER plays in paris)

Thanks for providing the link to this poll! Most of Uruguay’s best players are on the list, but I am also surprised by Forlan’s ranking.

Hard to believe about Uruguayans not liking Forlan. I wonder why?

That’s what I have been wondering myself… is he perceived as reserved and not combative enough? (which could be the reason he is not as popular with the Uruguayan supporters as Cavani or Lugano).

in this poll, i voted for lugano, forlan and scotti
i will probably root for uruguay, and hope that belarus will do well
but in the youth tournaments, brazil is alway dangerous

There should be some quality individual matchups like Coates vs. Neymar and Suarez vs. Bruno Uvini (I am assuming that Brazil will have to take on Uruguay at some point). Senegal vs. Uruguay will also be interesting (will evoke memories of the 3:3 draw at the 2002 World Cup).

Wilshere is only 20, but I doubt he will play. They are saying he might not even be back for the beginning of the season. I would rather have him play in the Euros if he is healthy, but it's highly unlikely.

Parker will play in the Euros, so I don't know if he will play in both tournaments.

Bale will just turn 23 in July, so he isn't over 23 either.

Good point, for some reason I assumed that Bale and Wilshere were slightly older (both of them, especially the former, already have accumulated a vast amount of experience in the Premier League). Actually I read some more about the FA regulations and it is now almost certain that players who make the cut for Euro 2012 won’t be considered for Olympic selection. Beckham will be picked, as he is in good shape, is very willing to participate and played a major role in promoting team “Great Britain”. Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are also in with a shout for the United Kingdom.

What a weird tournament - no Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Argentina... but we have Gabon, Honduras, Belarus, New Zealand? What were the qualification criteria?

It was a tournament.

from what i understand, there was one tournament per continent

then they gave 2 berths to south america ( )
3 to asia
4 to africa
2 to north america and central america
1 to oceania
3 to europe ( )

It’s a different qualification format (no qualifying groups in the conventional sense). Countries that win or finish in the top 3 or 4 of regional tournaments earn the right to participate in the Olympics. There were many surprises in the European Zone, with countries like Germany even failing to make it to the last 16 (the actual U-21 championship, which doubled as the qualifying competition for the Olympic tournament). Spain is the only favourite who did not disappoint and Honduras were better than El Salvador and Canada (who had eliminated the United States in the group stage) in the Concacaf preliminary competition. Gabon are a rising power in Africa (their senior team did quite well in the recent African Cup of Nations tournament) and seem to have surpassed traditional regional powers like Cameroon in terms of youth development.

How does Africa have more spots than any other region?? The number of teams should be proportional to what FIFA gives for the World Cup.

I am guessing that Africa have been allocated the most slots, because CAF teams like Nigeria and Ghana are often successful at youth tournaments, but I agree that Europe should have at least one additional berth.

I believe that the Olympic football tournament is an unmitigated waste of time. The Olympics are supposed to feature the cream of a sport's talent, yet the football component is a ridiculous U-23 affair, with a smattering of "over age" players. It's simply an embarrassment, particularly when viewed through the prism of the setting.

I agree, it’s disappointing that the crème de la crème won’t be there, though one shouldn’t discount the novelty factor (the presence of team “Great Britain” may boost interest in the tournament) and it’s almost guaranteed that all teams will be highly motivated. Most footballers probably reach their peak between the ages of 28 and 32, so matches involving youth teams are generally of lower quality (technical skills are not yet sufficiently developed), though more unpredictable. As you hinted, the problem is that the World Cup is already extremely popular, so any other football competition featuring national teams (with the possible exception of the European Championship) is bound to appear second rate in comparison. The Confederations Cup includes the best country from each region, I wish they could model the Olympics on that (but expand the number of teams and drop the age limits).


Brazil and Spain are probably considered the favourites, but quite a few sides are capable of challenging them.



Don't See

 

[frederic38]

That’s what I have been wondering myself… is he perceived as reserved and not combative enough? (which could be the reason he is not as popular with the Uruguayan supporters as Cavani or Lugano).

that's pretty much it
uruguayan are also jealous of him, they get the feeling that he never had to fight to succeed
they don't like him also because he is rich, educated....
suarez is the opposite of him
and also he never played in uruguay professionally (althought he said that he was a penarol fan, this helped him, he gained a lot of suporters because of this)

There should be some quality individual matchups like Coates vs. Neymar and Suarez vs. Bruno Uvini (I am assuming that Brazil will have to take on Uruguay at some point). Senegal vs. Uruguay will also be interesting (will evoke memories of the 3:3 draw at the 2002 World Cup).

i'm looking foward to this, as you don't get the oportunity of seeing these players very often
uruguayans will be willing to impress, that's for sure

 

[Porthos]

What's so weird about it? Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Argentina all had a chance to qualify - yet failed.

Nope. The weird thing is that Europe has 3 spots, South America 2, but Africa 4 and Asia 3. Not exactly how I see the current "balance of power" in World football.
And yes, I'm surprised that some football powerhouses failed to qualify, although there is was never really a linear relationship between the performance of youth teams and senior teams. Nigeria and Ghana are some of the most successful youth teams in the world, yet - dissapear from the radar completely as soon as they play the real thing (and them cheating with the age of their players certainly has something to do with it).

What's the problem with Belarus? Not "glamorous" enough?

No. A surprise - certainly! I'd love them to win... With Uruguay my second favorite. However, I was never too much interested in these Olympic tournaments for all the reasons you mention, so forgive me if I'll only turn a distracted glance to this event here and there.

 

[Rebajlo]

Nope. The weird thing is that Europe has 3 spots, South America 2, but Africa 4 and Asia 3. Not exactly how I see the current "balance of power" in World football.
And yes, I'm surprised that some football powerhouses failed to qualify, although there is was never really a linear relationship between the performance of youth teams and senior teams. Nigeria and Ghana are some of the most successful youth teams in the world, yet - dissapear from the radar completely as soon as they play the real thing (and them cheating with the age of their players certainly has something to do with it).

Porthos -

Europe had 5 berths in the "finals" until the 2000 Sydney Olympics, when the number dropped to 4. The Europeans don't take the Olympic tournament very seriously and the last time that a European nation won the gold medal was back in 1992, when Spain beat Poland in the final. Since then. African and South American teams have won it twice apiece, so it's hardly a surprise that the IOC and FIFA jumped at the opportunity to relieve Europe of a spot. That being said, in a just world one would therefore expect the South Americans to be granted an additional spot at the expense of, let's say, Asia...

 

[frederic38]

Porthos -

Europe had 5 berths in the "finals" until the 2000 Sydney Olympics, when the number dropped to 4.

actually europe has 3 berths but they have 4 teams in the tournament because great britain is the host

 

[Porthos]

actually europe has 3 berths but they have 4 teams in the tournament because great britain is the host

Another reason for the Europeans to take this tournament even less seriously. These tournaments are really U21 or U23 affairs, and in these categories if a player is several years older than declared, it can make a huge difference. IOC should really focus on alegations of age cheating, rather than constantly pushing for more African and Asian teams...

 

[Rebajlo]

actually europe has 3 berths but they have 4 teams in the tournament because great britain is the host

Frederic -

I'm unsure if Europe has been "permanently" reduced to three berths, as the current Olympic tournament replicates that of 2004 in which UEFA provided three teams plus hosts Greece. Yet Europe still had four teams at the Beijing Olympics of 2008. Maybe that had to do with the fact that Italy came away with the bronze medal in Athens.

One has to remember that four African teams were permitted direct qualification in 2000 and 2004 but Africa was reduced to three berths in 2008. Presumably, this was a consequence of the abysmal African performances in Greece, where only Mali managed to get past the group stage.

Despite no European nation winning a medal in the 2008 tournament, three of the four European teams did reach the knockout stage, with Belgium eventually finishing in fourth place. This is in stark contrast to the representatives of the Asian federation (including Australia), none of which could even dig themselves out of the group stage...

 

[Giles Daldanus]

Ryan Giggs, Micah Richards and Craig Bellamy will be the three overage players who will play for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics. I am very surprised that Beckham and Scholes (especially the former) did not make the final cut.

Syarhey Kornilenko who used to play for FC Blackpool (they are now in the Championship) is one of the over 23 year old footballers who will represent Belarus. He is certainly deserving of nomination, as he has been playing quite well for Russian club Krilya Sovetov and recently helped them avoid relegation. The Belarusian Olympic team may even be slightly stronger than their senior side.

 

[Matra2]

Ryan Giggs, Micah Richards and Craig Bellamy will be the three overage players who will play for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics. I am very surprised that Beckham and Scholes (especially the former) did not make the final cut.

So am I. About half the team will be non-white. Interestingly, there are no Scottish or Northern Irish players on the squad. I know their Football Associations were very much against an all British team. Whether it is political or there just aren't enough decent young players from Scotland and NI I don't know as both explanations are believable.

 

[frederic38]

same disappointment for uruguay, forlan and lugano won't be in the team
lugano said that it was his dream to play these olympic games but the coach didn't pick him

the uruguayan over-age players will be arevalo rios, cavani and suarez
muslera might be in the team, but he asked not to be picked because he was very tired
so that might be 3 non-white players
cavani is in my opinion the most over-rated player in uruguay right now, he is powerfull, but that's it
arevalo rios shouldn't play for the national team
hopefully these will be replaced by young players before 2014

 

[frederic38]

the spanish players for the olympic games:



Athetic Club: Mikel San José, Javi Martínez, Ander Herrera e Iker Muniain.
Atlético de Madrid: Jorge Resurrección 'Koke', Joel y Adrián.
FC Barcelona: Montoya, Thiago Alcantara y Tello.
Benfica: Rodrigo.
Borussia Möchengladbach: Ã￾lvaro Domínguez.
Chelsea: Oriol Romeu y Mata.
Espanyol: Ã￾lvaro Vázquez.
Málaga: Francisco Román 'Isco'
Manchester United: David De Gea.
Olympique de Marsella: Cesar Azpilicueta.
Real Sociedad: Iñigo Martínez.
Sporting de Gijón: Alberto Botía.
Valencia: Jordi Alba.
Villarreal: Diego Mariño.

http://www.as.com/futbol/articulo/mata-javi-martinez-jordi-alba/20120703dasdasftb_5/Tes

4 players will be left out

there are 2 non-whites, rodrigo the brazilian that plays for benfica, and alcantara the son of a brazilian professional footballer that plays for barcelona

still a nice team to root for, hopefully only one of these 2 will be titular

 

[frederic38]

the brazilian team: http://globoesporte.globo.com/futeb.../2012/07/mano-convoca-os-18-para-londres.html

the over-age players are hulk, thiago silva, and marcelo

the white players:

-both goal keepers are white (incuding murara neto, my favourite goal keeper)
-bruno uvini, one of the future best central defenders, very powerful
-the very talented middlefielder oscar from internacional (but a little bit skinny, althought it should be OK because it's a youth tournament)
-pato, who's the best in the world when he's not injuried (almost never)

if all these players play as titular (as they should) then the teams would be 4 whites and 7 others

they have neymar the over-hyped and ganso who i find untalented and over-rated

 

[frederic38]

unfortunately where i am currently i have a very bad internet connexion and i can't watch any match, i can barely post here

a friend told me that spain lost to japan but i don't know how this could happen

 

[Matra2]

I didn't even know the games had started. A search shows your friend is right: Spain 0 Japan 1.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/26/sport/spain-japan-football-olympics/index.html

 

[Giles Daldanus]

The three over-age players who were selected by Belarus are Kornilenko, Bressan and Drahun. I am somewhat disappointed, as Bressan is a naturalized Brazilian footballer and would have probably been more useful for BATE Borisov in their Champions League campaign than for the Olympic team (BATE really struggled against Macedonian side Vardar, eking out a 3:2 win in the first leg of the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] qualifying round and drawing 0:0 in the second match). Drahun is a great player, but is still quite young (24 years old) and his spot could have gone to Aliaksandr Hleb, Timofey Kalachev or Vitali Kutuzov. Kornilenko is a capable target man, he should do quite well.

I think that Great Britain, Uruguay and Brazil are the favourites to take the gold medal…good start for Uruguay (they won 2:1 against the United Arab Emirates).

As for online streaming, these sites sometimes work (even if your Internet connection is not very reliable):

www.sportlemon.tv

www.atdhe.net

 

[backrow]

and to give Japan some credit, they could have won 4:0 just as well (although they played 11v10 for a long while). very disappointing for Spain...

 

[frederic38]

and to give Japan some credit, they could have won 4:0 just as well (although they played 11v10 for a long while). very disappointing for Spain...

what do they say about it in spain?
i can't understand how they were able to lose, they had so much talented players

The three over-age players who were selected by Belarus are Kornilenko, Bressan and Drahun. I am somewhat disappointed, as Bressan is a naturalized Brazilian footballer and would have probably been more useful for BATE Borisov in their Champions League campaign than for the Olympic team (BATE really struggled against Macedonian side Vardar, eking out a 3:2 win in the first leg of the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] qualifying round and drawing 0:0 in the second match). Drahun is a great player, but is still quite young (24 years old) and his spot could have gone to Aliaksandr Hleb, Timofey Kalachev or Vitali Kutuzov. Kornilenko is a capable target man, he should do quite well.

I think that Great Britain, Uruguay and Brazil are the favourites to take the gold medal…good start for Uruguay (they won 2:1 against the United Arab Emirates).

the biggest disappointment for me is beckham not being in the great britain team, incredible
as for bressan, it's disapointing that there is a naturalised player in the bielorussia team, but i really think that with him bielorussia will be able to do great things
i remember the qualifying matches against bielorussia that france played last year, bielorussia won 1 and did a draw in the second match, and they should have won both matches
when they were leading in the second match they had a lapse of concentration just after the goal and france scored immediatly
that really seems to be the biggest weakpoint of these eastern european teams, i saw france play against a lot of them these past years and they were very skilled, but they weren't able to be focused for the whole match

speaking of family ties in eastern european teams i remember that there were 2 hleb brothers playing for bielorussia, the former barcelona player and his brother who played in china

and uruguay has for this tournament a player who is the son of a professional player (he's the one with a basque surname, the less swarthy one)