T
he Olympic football tournament has never really gotten the exposure that it has deserved, with Nigeria’s run to the final in 1996 one of the few memories that come to mind when I think of this particular tournament. It was the tournament 4 years prior that introduced the format we will see at this year’s games, namely a squad of U/23 players supplemented by 3 over-age players. This change in regulations has made the Summer Olympics a proving ground for many future stars and a mecca for top scouts from across Europe’s biggest leagues. They’ll be there in their droves over the next fortnight, clad in long trench coats (despite the sweltering heat), phone to ear and a seedy look in their eyes as they look to exploit the latest batch of unsuspecting footballers. The footballers though, never ones to miss a beat, will be ably represented by their agents; and these snakes in the grass will be on every street corner, like pimps, offering their player's services to the highest bidder. This is the underworld of football, and this summer it will be laid bare for all to see. Of course with so few tickets sold for the football events, the crowds may be made up mostly of these types, making the matches a rather hostile affair, something akin to watching hyena’s and lions battle over a carcass on the plains of the Serengeti. We at Just the Tip are all for expression of opinions, especially ones that you have built on your own. Of course that is not always possible when speaking of players that come from places like Gabon and Honduras. So what we’ve decided to do is put together a list of future stars to look out for at London 2012. You may have heard little rumblings of these players, or perhaps you purchased them as a rising star on your latest FIFA 2012 campaign. Unfortunately FIFA 2012 isn’t always a true reflection on the quality of players, and despite winning the league on World Class, you are not on the shortlist to replace Fergie when he retires. Neither is our esteemed football writer, Commodore Vegas. But that’s only because he’s a Liverpool supporter. We gave Mr. Vegas a pen, a pad and unlimited bandwidth to find us five stars to keep an eye on and this is who he came up with.
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Issue 11 Issue
Just The Tip
OSCAR POSITION:CAM AGE:20 A relative unknown amongst football followers outside of Brazil, Oscar (pronounced Os-KA) has quickly jumped to the forefront of the public psyche following the announcement of his transfer to Chelsea at the conclusion of the tournament. The latest in a long line of “New Kaka’s”, Oscar may just be the player that lives up to his billing. The young playmaker’s early career has been blighted by legal proceeding’s which have kept him off the football field for lengthy periods of time, depriving us of witnessing the genius of this young ingénue. It was at last year’s U/20 World Cup that he finally announced his arrival as a player of prodigious talents, becoming only the second player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup Final, as he helped Brazil to a 3-2 win over Portugal. Since then he has been drafted into the full National set-up, even displacing Ganso as the chief stringpuller for this talented Brazilian squad. A quiet and unassuming footballer, coach Mano Menezes obviously has big plans for Oscar, “Put it this way,” he says. “He wears the No10 for Brazil and we don’t give that shirt out to just anybody.” In amongst the likes of Hulk and Neymar, Oscar should have a field day in London, making the £25million that Chelsea paid for his services look like a bargain.