With Sir Alex Ferguson’s decision to only release one Manchester United contracted player for the Team GB Olympic football team it means that David Beckham has now firmed as out-and-out favourite to captain the side.
Sir Alex has opted to release Welshman Ryan Giggs to give the side more of a “British” feel which means that the European Championship overlooked Rio Ferdinand’s international football career is almost definitely over. Many felt that Ferdinand was a shoe-in for team GB as one of their three overage players, despite serving an eight month ban for missing a drugs test.
Liverpool’s Welsh striker David Bellamy along with Beckham looks to have bagged one of the three overage spots. It will be interesting to see how the British side performs as a unified group.
There are many who have said they would like to see The British Isles form a British Lions side similar to rugby union that goes on tour every four years so that the likes of Giggs and Bellamy who have not graced a World Cup Finals or European Finals may get the chance to play at the highest level outside of these tournaments. However art the Olympic games have proven the Politics in UEFA will probably never all ow this to happen unless they permanently play as Great Britain, rather than as England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland.
