Team GB football Head Coach Stuart Pearce confirmed
his final 18-man squad for the London 2012 Olympic Games yesterday. Known as
'Psycho' during his playing career, Pearce insisted that he would only choose
the players on merit and form however he had to take in the fact that the
Scottish and Northern Irish FA's opposed for their players to be selected
due to their worries that their statuses would be affected. This is the first time that Great Britain will have a football team involved at the Olympics since 1960 in Rome.
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| Team GB Head Coach Stuart Pearce |
The squad contains 13 Englishmen and five from Wales including Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs. He is one of the three over age players along with Welsh striker Craig Bellamy and Manchester City right-back Micah Richards who turned his back on the England stand-by list for Euro 2012. The majority of the squad has been involved in the England under-21 fold under Pearce including the likes of Danny Rose and Daniel Sturridge who was also on stand-by for England. Swansea City are the most represented club in the Team GB squad with Scott Sinclair, Joe Allen and Neil Taylor all receiving the call to play at the world's biggest sporting event.
England prospect Tom Cleverley spent the most of last season on the sidelines however he stated in March that his aim was to play at London 2012. “Throughout my career, I want to experience many things”, said the 22-year-old. “The Olympics would be a fantastic part of it.” Another highly-rated talent who has been selected for Team GB is Birmingham goalkeeper Jack Butland who at 19, was called up to the England Euro 2012 squad to replace the injured John Ruddy. Butland had two successful loan spells at League Two side Cheltenham Town last season where he kept 11 clean sheets in 24 appearances. Promising left-back Ryan Bertrand has also been selected in the squad as the Chelsea defender made his first start for the club in their Champions League final success over Bayern Munich in May. He expressed his delight by saying: "My friends and family are really happy and proud. To go out and gain more experience and be part of the Olympics team to represent Great Britain will be fantastic for me as an individual."
The main talking point in the past week amongst the media has been the omission of former England captain David Beckham. Pearce firmly stated that he left out the 37-year-old primarily for footballing reasons however there has been mixed opinions between the media and fans as Beckham has been involved in the bid for the Games from the very beginning. In my opinion, it would have capped off a truly wonderful career for Beckham if he had the opportunity to play at the Olympic Games in the place of his birth however Pearce has disrespected the LA Galaxy midfielder enormously. I understand that the squad is chosen on merit however in Beckham's case he has given his all since joining the MLS side in 2007 where he won the MLS Cup last season. Born in Leytonstone, Beckham has recently been awarded a knighthood for his services to sport which is well-deserved after applying his trade at Manchester United and Real Madrid. He travelled with the bidding committee to Singapore when London won the bid to stage the 2012 Olympics hailing on an "incredible victory". I feel that Beckham should be involved in the Great Britain football team set-up for support and inspiration as that is what he deserves after playing a major part in bringing the games to London.
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| David Beckham holding the Olympic torch in Cornwall last month |
Full Team GB squad:
Goalkeepers: Jason Steele (Middlesbrough), Jack Butland (Birmingham).
Defenders: Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Steven Caulker (Tottenham), Craig Dawson (West Brom) James Tomkins (West Ham), Neil Taylor (Swansea), Micah Richards (Manchester City).
Midfielders: Joe Allen (Swansea), Jack Cork (Southampton), Danny Rose (Tottenham), Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal), Scott Sinclair (Swansea), Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Ryan Giggs (Manchester United).
Strikers: Craig Bellamy (Liverpool), Marvin Sordell (Bolton), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea).
