Reuters Soccer Blog
World Soccer views and news
Britain’s Beijing heroes can teach soccer a thing or two
Standing in the reception of a Heathrow hotel watching a roll call of British gold-medal winners file past, the overriding impression was just how normal they all seemed.
There was something wonderfully natural and down-to-earth about these luminaries of Britain’s finest Olympic effort in a century.
Hearing them articulate their thoughts about the last few weeks in Beijing, it was hard to avoid making comparisons with Premier League footballers.
Of course, these Olympians were relishing their moment in the sun — whereas top-level footballers facing the media spotlight day in, day out may become understandably more guarded.
View from the Bird’s Nest
It’s been a little quiet around here lately. That’s because I’m in Beijing covering the Olympics, and I hope you won’t mind a shameless plug for the relaunched Reuters Olympic blog — View from the Bird’s Nest.
From August 8-24 the focus will be on the Beijing Games rather than the football world, although we will of course have plenty to say about the soccer tournament at the Olympics, which Argentina, Brazil and the rest will be taking very seriously indeed.
Messi takes a step closer to Beijing
Barcelona’s Argentine forward Lionel Messi took a step closer to Beijing on Wednesday when FIFA ruled that clubs are obliged to release players aged 23 or under to play at the Olympics.
Barcelona and Bundesliga clubs Werder Bremen and Schalke, who want to keep Diego and Rafinha out of the Games, will probably fight on in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) but for now FIFA has made the right decision, one that’s for the good of the game as well as the Games.
