The Olympics seem to showcase young talent, particularly from the African countries. The Nigerian kanu and Cameroonian Eto'o rose to fame as a result of their contributions to the capture of their respective countries' gold medals. The Beijing Olympics look to be the greatest and biggest sports spectacle the world has ever seen (even dwarfing the spectacle of the World Cup) and we can rest assured the talent scouts will be out in force scoping for young blood and fresh talent. Performing well in front of such a large worldwide audience could mean a transfer to a major club.
The Olympics end on August 24th, plenty of time for the big clubs to go on a shopping spree before the summer transfer window closes on August 31st. Remember, some of the major transfers of our time have taken place on the very last day of the window, case in point being Rooney's transfer to Man utd.
Since the Olympic committee only permits a certain number of older, established players, the Olympics will be, in essence, a "Youth World Cup", of sorts. Who will be this year's "Samuel Eto'o", one wonders
Here's hoping Barcelona will permit Messi to fulfill a lifelong dream and compete in the Olympics. I was watching some clips of his performances against Hibs and Dundee Utd on youtube in the pre-season friendlies and I'm now a believer. This guy can win several World Player of the Year and Ballon D'Or awards in the near future...just not this year, our boy Ronaldo's has his tanned leathery hands on that particular award, this year...:)Messi should help the Argentines to go far in the Olympics
Speaking of Messi, I think Barcelona's reluctance to relinquish his talents to the world's biggest stage could be more due to politics than anything else. I mean, do we really doubt that Barcelona will fail to get out of the 3rd qualifying round in the Champions League, even without his contributions?
