Football at the Olympics Tokyo: Who are the Premier League Players Heading to Tokyo?
There are 16 national teams that are said to be taking place within the men’s Olympic football tournament for Tokyo 2020. Having announced the squad details ahead of the tournament, many are asking the question of which players will we be seeing from the English Premier League.
Building up the suspense around the event, there are Premier League outright odds that have been predicted before the big commencement. For some of the big top fliers within the football league, they have not caught a break, having been called upon for the Copa America, and now will be relied upon to represent their country within the Olympics.
Brazil being a team able to win the gold back in Rio de Janeiro, you can definitely say that they want to retain their title and defend their crown in the approaching games. There is no doubt that all will agree that the national Brazilian team certainly has heritage behind their squad, with huge faces like Ronaldo and current stars such as Neymar. Dani Alves, who is considered an over aged football player, has been selected to represent the team.
The impact of COVID has massively disrupted squads and their usual routine within the relationship. Due to the pandemic, the squads have been upgraded to 22 players from the usual 18, for backup purposes amidst potential chaos caused by transmission and so on. Below is a summary of the groups expected to play, with their key players.
France have just played within the Euro 2020, meaning they have had quite the action as a national team, as of late. The head coach Sylvain Ripolls was announced just this past month for his responsibility towards the team in terms of preparing them for the sporting festivities ahead.
Rumoured to be on the team, we have Eduardo Camavinga, with the Arsenal defender William Saliba. Eduardo has been linked to joining the Manchester squad after the transfer season, however since the position on the national team has been objected to, it’s looking like the players will not be joining after all unfortunately. For this reason, there will be no Premier League players featuring within the Les Blues team. Many of the players of France are former players, with Florian Thauvin amongst overs listed to be confirmed. We will be seeing players who are familiar on teams across Europe however.
Japan
Japan confidently announced the final squad last month, with Real Madrid’s Takefusa Kubo proudly on the frontline for the team. Other members of the squad include Maya Yoshida, a former defender and captain of the Southampton team. His current playing position is at Sampdoria, under Ranieri.
We also have defenders such as Yuta Nakayama, Hiroki Sakai*, Ko Itakura, Maya Yoshida*, Reo Hatate, Daiki Hashioka, Ayumu Seko, Koki Machida and Takehiro Tomiyasu. Midfielders include Yuki Soma, Ao Tanaka, Ritsu Doan, Kaoru Mitoma, Wataru Endo*, Takefusa Kubo, and Koji Miyoshi. Other players include Daizen Maeda, Ayase Ueda and Daichi Hayashi, who will be playing as forwards for the team.
These two teams announced a completion of their player line-up recently, with a final 22 and impressive 79 man squad press release made to Sky Sports on July 6th this month. We will be seeing experienced goalkeepers Guillermo Ochoa and Ronwen Williams*, Mondli Moto, Sifiso Mlungwana. South Africa have more candidates to play from bench to field, with popular Premier League favourites such as Kgoagelo Chauke, Khanya Leshabela and Percy Tau.
Honduras have managed to reach past Olympic tournaments and with their coach (who previously coached Uruguay International), Miguel Falero, they have a good chance to make some good progress. Players they have selected for their team include Michael Perrelo, Bryan Ramos and Alex Guity for goalkeeper. Other players include midfielders and defenders Jonathan Nunez, Jose Alejandro Reyes, Denil Maldonado, Wesley Decas and Carlos Melendez.
New Zealand have confirmed many Premier League players in their team, with Burnley striker Chris Wood and Winston Reid for West Ham being massively popular and look forward to. Other players include goalkeepers Alex Paulsen, Michael Woud and Jamie Searle. In addition to this, we have forwards: Joey Champness, Elijah Just, Callum McCowatt, Ben Waine, Chris Wood* and Matt Garbett. In terms of defenders and midfielders, a highlight of the teams selection include Joe Bell, Clayton Lewis, Marko Stamenic, Michael Boxall*, Liberato Cacace and Callan Elliot.
Romania, unfortunately although confirmed, has been hit massively with disputes on the clubs versus country dispute, which still has not allowed finalisation of the brightest stars to join the ranks of the national team, as of yet. Currently however, there is talk of goal keeper Mihai Aioani, with defenders Radu Boboc, Andrei Chindris and Virgil Ghita.
South Korea manager Kim Hak-bum has not included the Tottenham player Son Heung-min as many would suspect, as other overage players were permitted as alternatives. It was believed spurs had not given the permission to go to the games, as it would affect the ending fitness of the star for the Premier League. Yet final reasons why are still unknown as of yet.
Argentina come fresh from their win in Copa America, meaning spirits are high and the confidence will certainly be a hard battle for all contenders in the Olympic football tournaments. It has been confirmed that Alexi Mac Allister will be joining from Brighton, alongside possible joining of Thiago Almada, who is yet to be confirmed.
Australia has known players as representatives in the Olympics. Manchester City player Daniel Arzani will be one of them and it is believed he will help the team compete better from their first ever games back in 2008. There are other players who play in the A-League for Australia, yet there is still an expected change to the team’s overall line-up as of yet.
It is believed the star player of Egypt, Mohamed Salah has been denied play within the Olympics, due to Liverpool blocking the request to provide him to the national squad. The same situation happened to the Arsenal star Mohamed Elneny, and Mostafa Mohamed. Yet it is believed that Egypt’s football associations are working hard to resolve and come to an agreement, so nothing is final yet for the top players’ proactive role in the national team.
Spain is an active and physically enduring team, that we know. Several of the best players took part in the Euros 2020 recently, and they will be featured in the Olympic teams too. These are Mikel Oyarzabal, Pedri, Eric Garcia, Dani Olmo, Unai Simon and Pau Torres.
Brazil are another team on the roster, and are believed to massively make an impact, especially after their loss to Argentina in the Copa recently. They will be driven to push even harder than ever before, that we know. It is believed that the team line up has been in turmoil however, with 7 clubs refusing to release star players from their club positions. Yet there is involvement with star overaged players such as the legendary full-back Dani Alves including, Arsenal striker Gabriel Martinelli.
Germany just recently released their squad line-up, with Stefan Kuntz selected as team representative. The team line-up is looking massively strong with Svend Brodersen, Benjamin Henrichs, Amos Pieper, David Raum and Jordan Torunarigha as some of the few selected to represent the nation.
Ivory Coast have called upon their Manchester United players Amad Diallo, with his close club friend Eric Bailly. These two combined will be star Premier League associates for their nation. In addition to this, there are former forwards/midfielders Max Gradel, and Franck Kessie.
Saudi Arabia has announced a team with all players that play for clubs locally within their nation. They do also have three over aged players too who will be contributing to the team, in addition to their previous 2018 World Cup squad too.
*Representing over aged players joining the team.
