Neymar shines among galaxy of stars at Rio 2016

Neymar shines among galaxy of stars at Rio 2016

The focus of the world turns to Rio de Janeiro for the Olympic Games over the coming month. The Olympic Football Tournaments have drawn one step further. They have confirmed the final squads for the men’s and women’s competitions.

Neymar shines among galaxy of stars at Rio 2016

A total of 288 players have been chosen by the 16 men’s sides. A total of 216 players selected for the 12 women’s sides. A tournament steeped in history – the men’s edition predates the FIFA World Cup™ by two decades. Now the class of 2016 will look to follow in the footsteps of many famous gold medal winners.

The last three gold medal-winning sides in the men’s tournament have appeared from the Americas. Five of the six finalists in the past three editions have come from either North or South America. This edition’s talented teams come from those two continents. They will be looking to continue the recent success at the Olympics. Neymar is the main attraction, of course. The Barcelona megastar will be hoping to emulate the success of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup on home soil. He also wants to partially heal the wounds of Brazil 2014 by securing A Selecao’s maiden footballing gold.

The hosts will face tough competition from continental rivals Colombia. They can count Teo Gutierrez, a star of Brazil 2014, among their ranks. Mexico can call on the talents of Oribe Peralta. He grabbed four goals on the way to gold at London 2012. They include a strike in the opening minute of the gold medal match against Brazil.

Meanwhile, it is rare for any Men’s Olympic Football Tournament squads to boast a World Cup winner. Although, Matthias Ginter takes his place in the Germany squad. He has tasted success as a member of Germany’s Brazil 2014 squad. The Bender twins, Lars and Sven, are also included, since they missed out on Die Nationalmannschaft’s glory two years ago.