It is only a few more weeks until the most celebrated sporting event in history begins in London, and for the first time ever, there is a British representation in the Olympics football competition (or soccer for readers on the other side of the pond).
David Beckham – the man in the middle
With the Scottish and the Irish opting not to allow their players to join Team GB, the responsibility was left in the hands of the Welsh and English players to bring home glory for Great Britannia this summer.
Overseen by Stuart Pearce, this young British squad has some upcoming quality players, to which the likes of Roy Hodgson and Chris Coleman will be paying much attention too. Just as everything else with international football, there are rules and legitimations – with one key issue being the inclusion of no more than three players older than 23. The representatives chosen by ‘Psycho’ himself were Welsh stalwarts Ryan Giggs and Craig Bellamy plus Manchester City’s fullback Micah Richards. Note the exclusion of David Beckham.
Much has been made of Becks’ absence; many feel that the work he has done in representing England and Team GB over the years should warrant a call-up to play out at a stage he worked so hard to bring home. There has never been a more popular ambassador for British sport in modern times, and it would have been fitting for David to play a role in front of an international audience.
Pearce’s argument is that David Beckham exclusion was purely for footballing reasons, but not many believe him. There are mootings that Pearce was in a lose-lose situation. Had he opted to select Beckham, it may have descended into a media circus into which the actual football took an auxiliary role behind Beckham. In not selecting Beckham, the nation has ensued in a mini-hate campaign against Pearce, with many media outlets claiming that he wanted to be centre of attention this summer.
My personal opinion is that David Beckham should have been part of the Team GB squad this summer. Many would agree that he does possess a decent amount of footballing ability not to be embarrassed this summer, and he is also a professional enough footballer to not allow the media infatuation affect him.
It would have been nice to give someone who has done so much for British football one final hurrah. Never mind.
Comments and views welcome.
Related articles
- Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs to captain Team GB’s Olympic football team (theoriginalwinger.com)
- David Beckham Victim Of His Good Looks Groupies Say (stirringtrouble.wordpress.com)
- David Beckham ‘very disappointed’ to miss out on Olympics squad (itv.com)
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