Mascherano plays in Olympics

[BFG]

Surely Lucas is ahead of Plessis in the pecking order though?

There's a good chance of him being in Beijing with Brazil though mate.

[Marky]

There's a good chance of him being in Beijing with Brazil though mate.

Oh right i see. Well then maybe put Gerrard into the centre alonsgide Barry(should he be a l'pool player). Plessis did well against Arsenal in the league towards the end of the season but i cant see Rafa putting him in the starting line up so early on in the season. Who knows though.

[Robbie-9-Fowler]

Oh right i see. Well then maybe put Gerrard into the centre alonsgide Barry(should he be a l'pool player). Plessis did well against Arsenal in the league towards the end of the season but i cant see Rafa putting him in the starting line up so early on in the season. Who knows though.

Yeah I agree I just don't see Rafa starting with Plessis when he can just drop Gerrard back, although that may mean... Voronin

[leftpeg]

Is it possible that Masher could pick up a knock in pre-season training and Tevez can get called up as a replacement "adult" player?

[Matt]

We knew months ago that this was inevitable. Massive player for us but a good chance for Plessis and a bit of motivation for the other ressies that the door to the first team is not always closed.

[Pablo]

Yep.

But how come boxing remains amateur yet other sports such as tennis features the top pros?

In Olympic boxing they fight almost everyday. Pro fighters have months between fights. Im not sure how they would cope. Would be seriously entertaining though!

[einar]

Well this is interesting.

AC Milan blocks Kaka from Brazil's Olympic team
The team decided it would not permit the reigning FIFA world player of the year to live his dream.
By Grahame L. Jones, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 19, 2008
The best player in the world, AC Milan's Brazilian star Kaka, will not be allowed to take part in the Beijing Olympics this summer.

It wasn't Kaka who made that decision. He wants to go to China.

It wasn't Brazil that made that decision. Brazil wants Kaka in its lineup.

It was AC Milan, in a petty and totally unnecessary move, that decided it would not permit the reigning FIFA world player of the year -- a player who was the driving force behind the Italian team's European Champions League and FIFA Club World Championship triumphs last season -- to live his dream.

"I would like to" play in Beijing, Kaka said in February, "but I will leave it up to the CBF [the Brazilian soccer federation] and Milan to decide."

Milan's answer was a resounding, "No." Its reasoning was spurious at best.

The 26-year-old Kaka, the club said on its website Sunday, "is already part of Brazil's national side. The club does not think it is right for Kaka to also be involved in official matches for Brazil's Olympic team."

Nonsense. Every one of the 16 teams in Beijing will have national team players on its roster, even the U.S. The rules permit it. The tournament is for players under 23, but each team is allowed three "overage" players.

The use of a limited number of older players was a compromise reached long ago between the International Olympic Committee, which wanted to open the Olympics to all players, and FIFA, which wanted to protect its World Cup.

But because of AC Milan's stance, Chinese fans will be denied the chance of seeing Kaka.

It would have been more honest of AC Milan to have said that it was embarrassed to finish fifth in the Italian Serie A and embarrassed not to have qualified for next season's Champions League. It would have been more honest if the club had said it wanted Kaka to get a break and prepare for next season.

But honesty, apparently, is not the club's style.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-spw-soccer19-2008may19,0,7367790.story

[Morph]

what a weird article you'd think it was written by the brazil coach