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Butland, Aboutreika, Neymar… London 2012 Olympics: 8 Players to Watch

One of the most intriguing elements of Olympics football tournaments is surely the variety of players on show. Due to scheduling, clashes often occur with other, higher priority international events such as the European Championships, meaning a fair proportion of top class talents are always likely to miss out. Meanwhile the blend of youth and [...]

Olympics: Brazil and the elusive hunt for gold…

Brazil take the Olympic Games very seriously, arguably more seriously than even the Copa América and the Confederations Cup. But unlike at World Cup level, theirs is a history of failure at Olympic level. The Seleção’s history in the competition goes back to the 1920s, when Brazil played in the South American Championship, whose winner [...]

Phillipe Coutinho

Philippe Coutinho: The trouble when promise meets expectation

In an era of rolling news and ever-shortening attention spans, a footballer’s career in the modern game can be built up and knocked down faster than perhaps ever before. Not too long ago Philippe Coutinho was being heralded as the next big thing to come out of Brazil. Just Football’s Brazilian football correspondent Paulo Freitas takes [...]