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2012 Olympics--Soccer/Football/Futbol
Topic Started: May 29 2009, 07:20 AM (2,819 Views)
Merengue
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Johnbuildr,Jul 3 2012
08:29 AM
Saw most of that game on espn Sunday but missed that wonderful save as bad luck would have it. Thanks for posting the link, ua.

From wat I saw, the ladies look to have a very solid team, Hobbes. How high are the expectations, do you know?

To make the discussions flow better I have opened a new thread just for discussing the women's tournament at the Olympics. The link to it is here.

This thread will remain as the point for discussing the men's tournament.
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Merengue
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A very good squad for Spain and one with many expectations after their success at last summer's European U21 tournament and of course the senior's team's success at Euro 2012. I'm a little surprised Spain included those three players from the Euro winning team as in the past Spain have made it a habit not to include senior players on any of it's youth based squads. But all 3 played with this group in the U19 and U21 levels so this I guess is the natural progression.

Valencia's defender Victor Ruiz and Athletic winger Oscar DeMarcos are two players whose exclusion surprised me but the Olympic squads limit of 18 players makes some cuts necessary.
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Martin
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Here is our discussion of last summer's European U21 championship where we discussed many of the players now on Spain's and Great Britain's Olympic teams.

Adrian Lopez should be Spain's lone striker and behind him should be a midfield of Mata, Muniain, Herrera, Thiago Alcantara and Martinez. That would have been one of the better midfields at the recently completed Euro 2012! Spain continue producing excellent young players.
Club Sportivo Desamparados
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Penya
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Some bad news for Spain as Thiago Alcantara has not recovered from the injury he received in the Copa del Rey Final and will miss the Olympics. This is a big loss for Spain as Thiago was the team's best player last summer in the European u21 championship which Spain won and which qualified them for these Olympics. No replacement has yet been named.
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Don Balon
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Thiago Alcantara's loss is a big one for Spain, as Penya wrote he was the team's top player last season and the Xavi-like motor who ran the midfield. I suspect his replacement will come from the 22, now 21 man prelim squad which Luis Milla already reduced. Atleti's Koke perhaps?
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carioca
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No surprises in Mano Menezes 18 player Brasil Olympic team:

Goalkeepers: Rafael Cabral (Santos), Neto (Fiorentina)

Defenders: Thiago Silva (AC Milan), Bruno Uvini (São Paulo), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Juan (Inter Milan), Alex Sandro (Porto), Rafael da Silva (Manchester United), Danilo (Porto)

Midfielders: Oscar (Internacional), Paulo Henrique Ganso (Santos), Lucas Moura (São Paulo), Rômulo (Spartak Moscow), Sandro (Tottenham Hotspur)

Strikers: Neymar (Santos), Leandro Damião (Internacional), Alexandre Pato (AC Milan), Hulk (Pato)


Thiago Silva, Marcelo and Hulk are the four over age players. Besides Thiago Silva, central defense looks like the weak spot of an otherwise talented Brasilian team.
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calimocho
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Don Balon,Jul 5 2012
11:44 AM
Thiago Alcantara's loss is a big one for Spain, as Penya wrote he was the team's top player last season and the Xavi-like motor who ran the midfield. I suspect his replacement will come from the 22, now 21 man prelim squad which Luis Milla already reduced. Atleti's Koke perhaps?

Asier Illarramendi, a midfielder with Real Sociedad has been named to replace Thiago Alcantara on Spain's preliminary 22 man team. Luis Milla has until 20 July to trim it down to 18 players, time to give Illarramendi a chance to show he can help fill the big void caused by Thiago's absence. But that is a major loss for Spain and effects their chances of winning gold.
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autogol
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The roster for another medal contender, Uruguay:

Goalkeepers: Martin Campana (Cerro Largo), Leandro Gelpi (Penarol)

Defenders: Sebastian Coates (Liverpool), Diego Polenta (Genoa), Ramon Arias (Defensor Sporting) , Alexis Rolin (Nacional), Emiliano Albin (Penarol), Matias Aguirregaray (Palermo)

Midfielders: Egidio Arevalo Rios (Palermo), Maximiliano Calzada (Nacional), Diego Rodriguez (Defensor Sporting), Gaston Ramirez (Bologna), Nicolas Lodeiro (Ajax Amsterdam), Jonathan Urretaviscaya (Vitoria de Guimaraes)

Forwards: Luis Suarez (Liverpool), Edinson Cavani (Napoli), Abel Hernandez (Palermo), Tabare Viudez (Nacional)


With Cavani, Suarez and Arevalo Rios as their three overage players, there likely will not be a team in London with a better set of overage players.
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Sporting
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I'm ashamed to say that the following is cut and pasted from yahoo news; that said, I think it's interesting enough, and Stuart Pearce's comments particularly valid:

"The 38-year-old, [Ryan Giggs] oldest of the three over-age players in the 18-man squad, is taking part in his first international tournament and will captain the side for the first time when they play Brazil in a warm-up at Middlesbrough on July 20.

"He is been a fantastic professional over the years and he was the standout candidate in a group that has got Aaron Ramsey the Wales captain, and Micah Richards who has captained Manchester City, and one or two other candidates," said Pearce.

"He’s got the respect of the group and the dressing room – I sense that straight away - and he’s got the respect of me and my coaching staff.

"It was a no-brainer. I’m looking forward to working with him, not just as a player, but working in a manager/player scenario.

"Sir Alex Ferguson has been fortunate enough to have him for a number of years and I quite look forward to the next four or five weeks together to see how he flourishes as a captain and as a man."

Giggs has won 12 Premier League titles, five FA Cups and two Champions Leagues with Manchester United and is the most decorated player in English football history.

However, he never played in a major championship because of Wales' failure to reach either the World Cup or European finals during his international career which brought him 64 caps between 1991 and 2007.

"Ryan Giggs is a man playing in his first tournament as an international, which is a crying shame, but this is a great opportunity for him," Pearce said.

Giggs added: "Obviously I have the experience and there are a lot of younger players in the squad, so as captain hopefully I can pass that on to the younger players.

"It's a tremendous honour to be part of the Olympics and I am really proud to be involved. Different nations have got different views about the Olympics, but as a player I am going to enjoy it and try and win it."

Pearce added that he is dismayed at the lack of respect shown to the Olympic football tournament inside the British media.

"I’ve read one or two articles over the last week or so on how football within the Olympics should be taken as a bit of fun,” he said.

“I personally take that as a bit of an insult because I’ve always lived my life as professional sportsman to try and give my best.

“We’ve trained for excellence, and we’ll enter and prepare this team to win gold.

"Playing against Brazil will give us a great indication of where we need to be if we’re going to be successful in this tournament.

“Brazil and Spain will go into this tournament as favourites, with Brazil slightly above Spain even."

The match against Brazil will be the first time Britain have fielded an Olympic squad since they played Bulgaria in a qualifier in 1971 ahead of the Munich Olympics the following year. They last played in the finals in 1960.

Britain face Uruguay, United Arab Emirates and Senegal in their group stage matches."
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shelsoccer
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A well deserved honor for Giggs. If it came down to him vs. Beckham, I have no problem with Pearce's choice.
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Yogi
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Absolutely agree, it is good to see Giggs finally get a chance to compete in an international tournament. All this talk of selecting beckham always struck me a snothing more than a p.r. exercise. As noted Giggs is much more deserving of such an honor.

Uruguay do look to be bringing a strong team, potentia medal winning candidates. I am curious to see what kind of squads nations like Japan, Korea, Egypt, Senegal and Mexico will bring to the tournament. From CONCACAF qualifying I have a good idea of who Mexico will bring and it too should be a pretty good group.
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Nkono
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Egypt will be coached by Hani Ramzy, who was a defender on their team which went to the 1990 World Cup, for the Olympics, Ramzy has added 3 overage players, all from Al Ahly, Mohamed Aboutrika, Emad Moteab and Ahmed Fathi, two attackers and a defender. Aboutrika, is one of Egypt's better players of al tiem and is in his 30s so like Giggs he will get a chance in the international spotlight (although he did win the African Nations Cup 3 times)
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Sammy Maudlin
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Grant Wahl's US centered preview for the men's tournament.

Brazil, Spain, Uruguay, Great Britain and Mexico are listed as the medal favorites.

Interesting to read there will be three MLS players in the Olympics, Honduras' Andy Najar (DC United) and Roger Espinoza (Sporting Kansas City) and New Zealand's Jake Gleeson (Portland's backup goalie).
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chacal
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I watched Mexico's warm up versus Spain today, a pretty good game which Spain won 1-0 as Javier Martinez headed in a corne rkick. Mexico's goalie Jesus Corona was too static waiting for the corner kick to come to him but instead Martinez beat him to the ball and headed it in. An entertaining game as both teams passed the ball well but Spain were deserving winners.

Both Giovani Dos Santos and Marco Fabian, Mexico's chief creative players each looked alittle out of sync as they are not used to playing with one another. Javier Aquino, on Mexico's right wing, however, looked very good.
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Don Balon
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You are right chacal, this was a good test for both Spain and Mexico. Mexico pushed Spain but in the end the overall skill and talent of Spain carried them through, Javi Martinez, not only scored the game's only goal but was so controlling in midfield, he will be the team's captain and the likely heart of the team, especially with Thiago Alcantara out for the Olympics with an injury. Both Ander Herrera and Iker Muniain were held out of this friendly with minor injuries, even without them Spain looked good but I would prefer more goals in the future. As chacal noted, Mexico's Aquino was impressive, a player to watch in London.
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