Rio 2016 Olympics Football Tournament

The Olympics’ men’s football tournament has been dramatically changed since 1992. The players, who can take part in the competition must be under the age of 23, except 3 footballers of the squad, who can be older.

To continue with, the competition in Rio de Janeiro will be the 26th in the history. The first ever football tournament in the Olympics was held in 1900 in Paris. Logically, it was the shortest ever competition – 3 teams and only 2 matches. Upton Park FC (Great Britain) has beaten France XI, then the Frenchmen have beaten Belgium and the trophy has gone into British hands. Great Britain have won this tournament on two more occasions (in 1908 as the host nation and in 1912).

The second Olympics’ football tournament has been held in St. Louis (1904). There have been only 3 teams from 2 nations – Canada and the USA. The team of Galt FC (Canada) has won the trophy after two victories against Christian Brothers College (USA) and St. Rose Parish (USA). Galt FC has recorded a goal difference of 11-0 after its only 2 games at the Olympics, which has been enough for the title!

The other teams, which have won the golden medals until the change in the rules in 1992 are Belgium (1920 as a host nation), Uruguay (1924 and 1928), Italy (1936), Sweden (1948), Hungary (1952, 1964 and 1968), the Soviet Union (1956 and 1988), Yugoslavia (1960), Poland (1972), German DR (1976), Czech Republic (1980) and France (1984).

Since the changes in the rules, only one European team has won the trophy (Spain U23 as the host nation in 1992). There have also been two African teams to become Olympic champions (Nigeria in 1996 and Cameroon in 2000). Argentina also won the title on two consecutive occasions (2004 and 2008). And the last champion is the team of Mexico U23.

There have been very unlucky teams, which have recorded several defeats in the final match. For example, Brazil, Denmark and Yugoslavia have lost 3 finals each.

The Favourites:

The biggest favourites for winning the trophy are Brazil U23. The Brazilians have never won the competition. Most of the bookmakers give a huge advantage for Selecao. That’s not surprising, because the superstar of Barcelona – Neymar is going to take part in the competition. In addition, Douglas Costa of Bayern Munich and Marquinhos of PSG are also in the squad. Moreover, Brazil are the host nation of the competition.

The two times Olympic champions Argentina are also among the favourites. But, there aren’t lots of notable players in Argentina’s squad for the tournament. The most experienced player will be Victor Cuesta, who is a defender and was a part of the team, which became runners-up in the Copa America 2016. Manuel Lanzini is also called-up for the Olympic games. Lanzini is only 23 years old, but he is showing a great potential.

Germany are also considered as a favourite. In fact, the Germans’ coach had a serious headache with the selection. Tons of quality players were either stopped by their clubs, or injured. However, two of the most experienced players will be the twins Lars and Sven Bender.

Can Portugal win another international trophy in less than 2 months? For sure, it will be very difficult, but there are some very talented young players in Portugal’s squad for the Olympic games in Rio. However, the superstar Cristiano Ronaldo won’t be among the 18-players squad. The coach will rely mostly on Teixeira and Ilori.

The Group stage:

• Group A: Brazil, Denmark, Iraq, South Africa;
• Group B: Colombia, Japan, Sweden, Nigeria;
• Group C: Germany, Mexico, Korea Republic, Fiji;
• Group D: Argentina, Portugal, Algeria, Honduras;

It was my own choice, more or less,” Neymar said. “Barcelona did not want me to play the two competitions and asked me to choose one. I chose the Olympics, together with Gilmar and Dunga. Sometimes there are frictions with your club, but with Barcelona it was all fine in the end. They let me choose the competition, and I went for the Olympics.Neymar