Next summer the Olympic Games, arguably the biggest sporting spectacle in the world, arrives in London, and for the first time since 1972 Team GB will be entering a team into the Olympic Football tournament. However this has caused a bit of discomfort among the Home Nation F.As, with only England happy to allow their players to represent Team GB next year. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have made it clear that they don’t want to play, despite reassurances from Sepp Blatter that a joint British team had FIFA backing. Actually given the turmoil over England’s World Cup bid I don’t blame them.
But that’s all well and good. England can represent the Home Nations, and it surely makes sense as we’re the higher ranked and strongest of the four Home Nations. Well, there’s a slight problem with all this. At present, the EURO 2012 qualifiers are well underway and England look likely to qualify for next years tournament. Northern Ireland has a slight chance, while Wales and Scotland look to be out of the running. Should all go well for England, the EURO 2012 tournament will start on 8th June, and if (God Forbid) they make it to the final, will finish on 1st July. The Olympics will start less than a month later at the end of July, normally the start of the British pre-season. Could all this tournament football stretch the resources of English football?
The squad are to be made up of mainly under-23 players, with an allowance of 3 over-age players. This will mean that in theory the bulk of the England under-21s would make up the squad, with the likelihood that whoever Fabio Capello doesn’t take to the EUROs making up the 3 over-age players. But looking at the England under 21 squad and those who qualify for an under 23 side, many are not playing in the Premiership at present, and given the squads of their parent clubs, unlikely to play in the Premiership next season either. That’s not to say that we won’t take it seriously or that our current crop of youngsters aren’t good enough, but I feel that the other Home Nations have players who could bring far more to a Team GB side. The sensational Gareth Bale has already shown an interest, and players like Aaron Ramsey (Wales) and Danny Wilson (Scotland) would be very welcome additions. Even over-age players such as Craig Bellamy (Wales), Charlie Adam and Darren Fletcher (both Scotland) should be considered to bolster Team GB.
This clearly makes sense. The best players from Scotland and Wales will be fresh and ready to go, having had the summer off. England’s finest will be recovering from a (hopefully) successful EURO 2012 campaign, and those picked from the England under-21s will surely benefit from playing with experienced and talented internationals such as Gareth Bale. If Team GB is to take the Olympic Football seriously, then surely asking our neighbours for a little help is the way forward.
There is hope. The BOA have stated that they feel that only using English players would be discriminatory and would consider the situation nearer the time if they were approached by individual players from the other Home Nations who wanted to play.
Given that Wales haven’t qualified for a major tournament since 1958, and don’t look like doing so anytime soon, and with Scotland and Northern Ireland also struggling, next summer could be their players’ one and only opportunity to play in a World tournament, let alone a Once-In-A-Lifetime opportunity to take part in the Olympic Games! And should Gareth Bale defy his own FA to play in the Olympics, would the FAW ban their best player?
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