WITH David Beckham's Olympic dream over, it will be former teammate Ryan Giggs and young Brazilian star Neymar attracting all the attention at the men's football tournament in London.
Beckham failed to make the British team, ending his chances to cap a successful career with an Olympic victory at home, so it will be up to the 38-year-old Manchester United veteran and the 20-year-old Brazilian sensation to try to create some hype around a competition which lacks the lustre of football's top events.
With only three players older than 23 allowed in each team, few fans would pay much attention to the tournament if it weren't for the likes of Neymar and Giggs.
Neymar will be the leader of a Brazil team who will be mostly at full-strength, filled with players who will also be at the World Cup they will host in 2014. The Olympic tournament is the only significant football title Brazil haven't won.
Giggs will headline a Britain team who will be playing in the men's Olympic football tournament for the first time since 1960. The hope was that Giggs would reunite with his former Manchester United teammate, but Beckham on Wednesday announced that he didn't make the 18-man squad selected by coach Stuart Pearce.
"Everyone knows how much playing for my country has always meant to me, so I would have been honoured to have been part of this unique Team GB squad," Beckham said in a statement. "Naturally I am very disappointed, but there will be no bigger supporter of the team than me. And like everyone, I will be hoping they can win the gold."
Giggs hasn't officially been picked yet but was likely to make the team along with former Wales teammate Craig Bellamy and England defender Micah Richards as the overage players in the squad.
"I've not played in (an Olympic) tournament so it would be nice to be involved in a tournament atmosphere I've never experienced," Giggs said.
Neymar was only a few years old when Giggs and Beckham began playing together at Manchester United. As their careers are coming to an end, the Brazilian is just beginning to attract the world's attention.
He is the player carrying Brazil's hopes for success in London and at the 2014 World Cup. And the Olympics will give him a chance to prove that he can be the decisive player the entire country expects him to be.
"To play in the Olympics is a dream for any athlete," Neymar said. "Especially to play for Brazil, who have never won this competition before."
The five-time World Cup champions won the Olympic silver in 1984 and 1988, and the bronze in 1996 and 2008, when Argentina took gold with Lionel Messi. The Argentines, who didn't qualify for London, also won the gold in 2004.
Four of the 16 teams in London will be playing in the Olympic tournament for the first time -- Senegal, Gabon, Belarus and the United Arab Emirates. Britain won the gold in the first two editions of the men's tournament, in 1908 and 1912. The only other champions playing in London will be Uruguay (1924 and 1928) and Spain (1992).
The men's tournament will run from July 26 -- a day before the opening ceremonies -- until Aug 11. AP
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