The Friday List of Little or No Consequence #108

The Last 'Team GB'
The 11 Players That Made Up The Last Great Britain Team Ever To Take To A Field

1. John Swannell (Hendon)
2. Paul Fuschillo (Wycombe)
3. Bill Currie (Albion)
4. Ted Powell (Wycombe) (captain)
5. Derek Gamblin (Leatherhead)
6. John Payne (Enfield)
7. Roger Day (Slough)
8. Rod Haider (Hendon)
9. Peter Hardcastle (Skelmersdale)
10. Ken Gray (Enfield)
11. Joe Adams (Slough)

The above team played and were beaten by Bulgaria in an Olympic qualifying match in 1971, hoping to reach the final tournament in Munich a year later.

Beijing 2008 - First Round draw

Further to my recent article 'Beijing Bound' which told you all about the countries that had qualified for the 2008 Olympic Football tournament, here's news of how the First Round groups were drawn out in the official ceremony which took place on Sunday.

Group A
Ivory Coast, Argentina, Australia, Serbia
Defending champions Argentina might be forgiven for thinking they've got a relatively easy path through to the next round. Though none of their three Group A opponents are pushovers in any way, Argentina should nonetheless secure a safe passage to the quarter finals where they'll play the runners-up in Group B.

That means the runner-up spot in Group A should make for a more interesting fight. For my money, I'd have to go for Serbia as the team to take the remaining place, purely because (in general) the youth development setup in Europe is of a higher quality than elsewhere. I'm prepared to admit I'm wrong, however, as African teams do tend to do well in this competition.

Schedule:
Aug 7 - Australia v Serbia, Ivory Coast v Argentina; Aug 10 - Argentina v Australia, Serbia v Ivory Coast; Aug 13 - Ivory Coast v Australia, Argentina v Serbia.

Group B
Netherlands, Nigeria, Japan, USA
This is arguably the most open group of the lot, but if any team has some sort of pedigree to go all the way, it's Nigeria. The 1996 Olympic football champions and 2008 African Cup of Nations quarter finalists will be strongly backed to do well in Group B, and I feel they'll do that support justice by finishing top.

The team finishing as runner-up in the group (and facing the unwanted task of almost certainly meeting Argentina in the next round) is not easy to identify. Japan have been known to reach the quarter final stage before and in the Netherlands and the United States you have two sides with promising young players ready to catch the eye. For me though, I'd have to go with the Netherlands.

Schedule:
Aug 7 - Japan v USA, Netherlands v Nigeria; Aug 10 - Nigeria v Japan, USA v Netherlands; Aug 13 - Netherlands v Japan, Nigeria v USA.

Group C
China, New Zealand, Brazil, Belgium
This group should be completely wrapped up by the time the final round of games are played on August 13th. Hosts China and many people's favourites Brazil have two relatively weak opponents in the shape of Belgium and New Zealand, therefore I see no other outcome than the former pair taking the two qualification places ahead of the latter.

China will no doubt have vociferous home support, but Brazil, looking to capture their first Olympic title, should overcome that. I'd guess they'll have attained the more superior goal difference by the time they meet in the closing pair of games in Shenyang, so my money's on Brazil to finish first, China second, Belgium third and New Zealand fourth.

Schedule:
Aug 7 - Brazil v Belgium, China v New Zealand; Aug 10 - New Zealand v Brazil, Belgium v China; Aug 13 - China v Brazil, New Zealand v Belgium.

Group D
South Korea, Cameroon, Honduras, Italy
An intriguing range of teams line up for Group D. Cameroon and Italy have both won gold in previous competitions and may very well be the two qualifiers here ahead of Honduras and South Korea who in themselves should be a tricky obstacle to overcome.

Honduras managed to stop Mexico from reaching the Beijing games and South Korea, like Japan, have proved they have the ability to progress beyond the first round, but without doubt it'll be Italy and Cameroon that set the pace in Group D. While Italy will be wanting to improve on the bronze medals they won in Athens four years ago, Cameroon will be aiming for the top step of the medal rostrum which they occupied in 2000. It shouldn't be too far beyond their reach, and if nothing else I favour them to top the group at least.

Schedule:
Aug 7 - Honduras v Italy, South Korea v Cameroon; Aug 10 - Cameroon v Honduras, Italy v South Korea; Aug 13 - South Korea v Honduras, Cameroon v Italy.

The Friday List of Little or No Consequence #56

Going for gold
38 players who have competed in the Olympic Soccer Tournament

1. Stephen Appiah (Ghana, 2004)
2. Faustino Asprilla (Colombia, 1992)
3. Dino Baggio (Italy, 1992)
4. Bebeto (Brazil, 1996)
5. Oleg Blokhin (Soviet Union, 1972)
6. Tomas Brolin (Sweden, 1992)
7. Roberto Carlos (Brazil, 1996)
8. Hernan Crespo (Argentina, 1996)
9. Rinat Dasaev (Soviet Union, 1980)
10. Kazimierz Deyna (Poland, 1972)
11. Landon Donovan (USA, 2000)
12. Dunga (Brazil, 1984)
13. Luis Enrique (Spain, 1992)
14. Edu (Brazil, 2000)
15. Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon, 2000)
16. Quinton Fortune (South Africa, 2000)
17. Brad Friedel (USA, 1992)
18. 'Kily' Gonzalez (Argentina, 2004)
19. Gabriel Heinze (Argentina, 2004)
20. Junichi Inamoto (Japan, 2000)
21. Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria, 1996)
22. Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany, 1988)
23. Alexei Lalas (USA, 1992)
24. Grzegorz Lato (Poland, 1976)
25. Javier Mascherano (Argentina, 2004)
26. Benni McCarthy (South Africa, 2000)
27. Hidetoshi Nakata (Japan, 2000)
28. Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria, 1996)
29. Andrea Pirlo (Italy, 2000)
30. KarlHeinz Reidle (Germany, 1988)
31. Claudio Reyna (USA, 1992)
32. Rivaldo (Brazil, 1996)
33. Romario (Brazil, 1988)
34. Ronaldinho (Brazil, 1996)
35. Ronaldo (Brazil, 1996)
36. Jan Tomaszewski (Poland, 1976)
37. Taribo West (Nigeria, 1996)
38. Ivan Zamorano (Chile, 2000)

Beijing Bound

Call it the 'Poor Man's World Cup' if you like, but the Olympic Men's Soccer Tournament is a competition that is worthy of its place in the football calendar. This being an Olympic year, we've not got long to go before the next one rolls around and the good news is we now know who's going to be taking part in Beijing this August.

Sixteen teams will be involved, all of whom will be split into four groups of four with the top two from each group qualifying for the quarter finals and the ensuing knockout stages leading to the Final.

China, the hosts, have qualified automatically and probably just as well as they haven't reached the finals of the Olympic soccer tournament since 1988. They go into the First Round draw on April 20th along with the qualifiers from all six FIFA continents including Brazil and Argentina from South America.

Brazil missed out on the last event in Greece but return this time as one of the favourites along with reigning champions and near neighbours Argentina. The Argentineans were a revelation in Athens, playing a free-flowing, attack-minded style of play that saw them score seventeen goals and concede none.

Arguably the most eye-catching player in their team was the top scorer in 2004, Carlos Tevez who, we understand, has gone on to do quite well since. With players like Riquelme and Messi likely to have a similar effect on their 2008 campaign, don't be surprised if the gold medals go to the Albicelestes again.

Africa will be sending an impressive triumvirate of talent to the Games this summer. Returning to the big stage are 1996 Olympic champions Nigeria, 2000 champions Cameroon and newcomers to the tournament, Ivory Coast. All three were among the big names at the recent 2008 African Cup of Nations and all three are capable of causing an upset when this year's competition gets underway.

The Olympic Soccer Tournament is renowned for giving the world its first sight of many stars of the future and Nigeria's victorious team in Atlanta twelve years ago is a good example of this. Among the players who went onto become household names were Taribo West, Celestine Babayaro, Sunday Oliseh, Jay-Jay Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu and Victor Ikpeba. If their current squad can boast potential like that, they could be bound for greatness in Beijing.

There's one or two new names to conjure with alongside the tried and trusted. Accompanying the ever-present USA from the CONCACAF section are Honduras who surprisingly got their place at the expense of the usually-ever-present Mexicans. Mexico showed their gratitude to team coach Hugo Sanchez for his inability to gain qualification for his team by giving him the sack. Perhaps they Mexican Waved him goodbye as they did so - who knows…

Another new name at Beijing 2008 is New Zealand who finally have the chance to compete thanks to Australia's migration to the Asian confederation. It'll be only the All White's second ever Olympic outing since 1952 when they made the huge journey to Melbourne to take part. Obviously not a team that likes to travel long distances very much…

Speaking of Australia, they've been more or less a permanent fixture in Olympic Soccer since 1988 and they'll be competing again in August when they'll be hoping to match their 1992 semi-final finish that ended at the hands of Poland. Representing Asia alongside Australia and China are Japan and South Korea, one of whom should get as far as the quarter finals if recent form is anything to go by.

Finally to Europe where four teams will be making the long journey to Beijing, but here again there are some surprises. If you're looking for the likes of Spain, France, Germany or Portugal, forget it. All of them fell by the wayside during the UEFA Under-21 Championships last June that acted as the qualification round leaving Italy (2004 Olympic semi-finalists), the Netherlands (appearing for the first time since 1952), Belgium (appearing for the first time since 1928) and Serbia, appearing for the first time in their own right.

With a considerable sense of irony, England reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Under-21 competition but as a distinct entity separate from Great Britain (hosts of the 2012 Olympics) they won't, of course, be appearing in this year's games. This caused a play-off to be held between the two third-placed teams, Portugal and Italy, and the latter won after a penalty shoot-out.

Quite a tenuous way of qualifying for the Italians who were only beaten by eventual champions Argentina in 2004 and picked up a bronze medal for their efforts. That must have stuck in the throat of Cristiano Ronaldo who made an appearance for the Portuguese four years ago and may well have done so in 2008 had his side been better at taking penalties against the Italians.

So there they are, the sixteen teams going for gold in Beijing this year. Some are going for Nigeria to win, many think it'll be Argentina, but all things considered you can expect a football tournament full of interest and excitement when the games begin this August.

GB or not GB?

Whether you knew it or not, yesterday was a notable date in the sporting calendar. Why? Because exactly five years on from July 27th 2007, the 2012 Olympic Games will begin in London.

Those of us living in London are by now aware of the plans which are well underway to build or upgrade the venues for each event, to say nothing of encouraging ordinary people to take up a sport which, five years down the line, they might even represent Great Britain in.

One event which should be of interest to the British is the Men's Soccer tournament. The trouble is that Great Britain haven't had a team of its own taking part since 1960. This is because the constituent parts of Great Britain, i.e. England, Scotland, Wales along with Northern Ireland, are all represented individually within FIFA. If they played together as a combined Great Britain team in the Olympics, FIFA would suggest they do so for all competitions.

This is something the four British nations would be reluctant to do. As things currently stand, they each have a guaranteed position as Vice President of the FIFA Management Committee and make up half of the International Football Association Board - the body that annually reviews the laws of the game.

The thing is, Great Britain, as hosts of the 2012 Olympics, would be expected to field a team in as many of the events it would be staging - including the Soccer tournament. What's the solution then?

Well some say there should be a tournament before the Olympics begin where the winning team from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should represent Great Britain as a unit in the Games. It seems not entirely satisfactory, but with the approval of all four parties, it might just work.

Certainly Scotland have pulled out of any plan that would see a Great Britain team made up of players from all four countries, so something needs to be done. If you have any ideas, send them to us at ivecomeupwithasolution@spaotp.com and we'll feed them back to you before forwarding them on to FIFA and the IOC. Possibly.

Meantime, it's good fun to think about which players would feature in a 'perfect' Great Britain team. So many great players and so much talent - it could easily be a side that would give the Brazils and Italys a run for their money in this day and age.

Overlooking the real-world technicalities for putting together an Olympic football team (i.e. all except three of the players must be under the age of 23), let's consider who would be in your Great Britain line-up if you had the chance to pick it.

We've put together a list* of all the squad players from the last three international matches played by England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and what you must do is pick those that you'd have in your Great Britain XI. To make the exercise a little more interesting, we impose one rule: that you must represent each of the four countries with at least two players.

Download the list and have a go. Once you've picked your team, leave us a comment detailing who's in it with perhaps a brief description of why you've picked them. (Oh and before any of you say so, Ryan Giggs isn't included on account of the fact that he's now retired from international football. Sorry about that...)

Well don't just sit there - what are you waiting for?!? :-)

* In Adobe PDF format. To download the Adobe PDF Reader, click here.

The Friday List of Little or No Consequence #22

The Gold standard
10 Most Recent Olympic Men's Soccer Tournament Winners

1. Hungary (Mexico City, 1968)
2. Poland (Munich, 1972)
3. East Germany (Montreal, 1976)
4. Czechoslovakia (Moscow, 1980)
5. France (Los Angeles, 1984)
6. Soviet Union (Seoul, 1988)
7. Spain (Barcelona, 1992)
8. Nigeria (Atlanta, 1996)
9. Cameroon (Sydney, 2000)
10. Argentina (Athens, 2004)

The Friday List of Little or No Consequence #21

Grounds for comparison
11 Grounds Where Matches Were Played During The 1948 Olympic Soccer Tournament in London

1. Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace
2. Cricklefield Stadium, Ilford (now home to Isthmian League side Ilford FC)
3. Craven Cottage, Fulham
4. White Hart Lane, Tottenham
5. Goldstone Ground, Brighton
6. Griffin Park, Brentford
7. Green Pond Road Stadium, Walthamstow (now known as Walthamstow Stadium, one of the best known greyhound tracks in Britain)
8. Arsenal Stadium, Highbury
9. Fratton Park, Portsmouth
10. Champion Hill, Dulwich (now home to Isthmian League sides Dulwich Hamlet and Fisher Athletic)
11. Empire Stadium, Wembley