Olympics
Super Falcons’ opponent, Brazil’s Marta and 3 Africans listed among 10 footballers to watch at Paris 2024
Major news outlet, BBC has named Brazil’s woman footballer, Marta among 10 players tipped for glory at the football event of the Paris 2024 Olympics. Nigeria’s Super Falcons are billed to face Brazil in one of the opening matches of Olympics.
BBC focused on the just concluded Euro 2024 and the Copa America in picking most of the players expected to excel. Apart from Marta, three Africans are also in focus. They are Achraf Hakimi of Morocco and Naby Keita of Guinea among the men and Barbra Banda, a woman footballer of Zambia.
The Paris 2024 action starts on Wednesday, with matches taking place in seven cities across France. Both the men’s and women’s finals will be played in Paris at Parc des Princes.
Men’s Olympic squads are made up of under-23s players, with up to three overage players allowed, while women’s squads have no age restrictions.
From Lionel Messi to Alex Morgan, Ronaldinho to Ellen White, some of the world’s biggest names have played football at the Olympics over the years. The big names expected to excel are:
Marta (Brazil)
Brazil’s all-time leading goalscorer Marta will bid farewell to international football after captaining her country in Paris.
The 38-year-old is planning to retire from national team duty, but after winning a silver medal at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, she wants one last shot at the gold.
In Tokyo, Marta made history by becoming the first footballer to score in five straight Olympic Games.
She scored five goals in 13 NWSL games for Orlando Pride last season and Brazil manager Arthur Elias said “she’s playing well, she deserved to be on this list” for Paris 2024.
Achraf Hakimi (Morocco)
Achraf Hakimi is another big name player to have been cleared to represent his country at the Olympics.
The 25-year-old will miss Paris St-Germain’s pre-season preparations as Morocco prepare to play at a summer Games for the eighth time.
While Hakimi missed two penalties in a pre-tournament friendly against French side Villefranche, he will be keen to lead the Atlas Lions to the final at Parc des Princes.
Tarik Sektioui’s side qualified for Paris 2024 by winning the 2023 Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations.
Naby Keita (Guinea)
Former Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita will captain Guinea as they make only their second appearance at an Olympics.
The Champions League winner had a poor first season in the Bundesliga with Werder Bremen, playing just five times because of injury and suspension.
The 29-year-old is one of the biggest names at the Games and will hope to add to his tally of 11 goals for his country.
Barbra Banda (Zambia)
Barbra Banda became the second-most expensive women’s footballer in history when she joined Orlando Pride from Chinese club Shanghai Shengli in March.
Banda, 24, has justified her price tag since joining the NWSL outfit, and became the first player in the history of the division to score 11 goals in their first 11 games.
The NWSL’s top scorer is heading to France with Zambia for her second Olympic Games.
In Tokyo, the Copper Queens’ captain became the first player in Olympic history to score back-to-back hat-tricks – doing so in the group stage against the Netherlands and China.
Julian Alvarez (Argentina)
Fresh from their Copa America triumph, Argentina are the favourites to win the men’s gold medal in Paris.
Along with Nicolas Otamendi and Geronimo Rulli, Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez is one of Argentina’s three overage players in the squad as Javier Mascherano looks to coach the country to their third gold medal.
The 24-year-old scored 11 goals in 36 appearances for Pep Guardiola’s side last season as they won a fourth successive Premier League title.
Alvarez will miss City’s pre-season tour of the United States and the Community Shield match against Manchester United, which takes place the day after the gold medal match.
Alexandre Lacazette (France)
Thierry Henry has selected Alexandre Lacazette to captain France at their home Games.
“We all have the same ambition, to go all the way and win a medal,” the 33-year-old said. “The fact that it’s a home Games is really going to motivate us.”
The Lyon forward hasn’t played for his country since 2017 but scored 22 goals in 35 games for the Ligue 1 club last season, showing he is still in good form.
Sevilla’s Loic Bade is another overage inclusion, along with Crystal Palace forward Jean-Philippe Mateta, who is the only Premier League player in the squad.
Kylian Mbappe, who had hoped to be part of the squad as an overage player, is not involved, external – as his new club Real Madrid did not want any of their players taking part at the Games.
Aitana Bonmati (Spain)
Spain have never had a women’s team at the Olympics before but they head to Paris as one of the favourites.
The reigning world champions have lost only twice in 14 matches since beating England in last August’s World Cup final.
Montse Tome’s squad is packed with superstars, but all eyes will be on Aitana Bonmati, a player known for stepping up in the biggest moments.
After winning the Nations League with Spain and the quadruple with Barcelona this season, can the 26-year-old add another gold medal to her collection?
Wendie Renard (France)
Boss Herve Renard said legendary defender Wendie Renard – no relation – was “unanimously” selected as France’s captain for the home Olympics.
The 34-year-old Lyon defender will represent France at a third Games after doing so at London 2012 and Rio 2016.
Renard has 160 caps for France but is yet to win a major honour for her country.
The hosts will hope to land a spot on the podium with stars such as Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Grace Geyoro and Eugenie Le Sommer in their ranks.
Fermin Lopez (Spain)
Along with Alex Baena, Fermin Lopez is one of two players from Spain’s Euro 2024-winning squad heading to the Olympics.
The 21-year-old winger only featured once for Luis de la Fuente’s side in Germany but joins Barcelona team-mates Pau Cubarsi and Eric Garcia in the Olympic squad.
Lopez had a breakout first season in La Liga, scoring 11 goals in all competitions for Xavi’s side.
Lopez and Baena are looking to make history by becoming the first outfield players to win both the Euros and Olympic gold in the same summer.
Linda Caicedo (Colombia)
At the age of 19, Linda Caicedo is already recognised as one of the best prospects in women’s football.
The Real Madrid forward was one of the breakout stars of the 2023 World Cup – at 18 years and 153 days, she became the second-youngest South American player to score a goal in the history of the tournament, behind only the legendary Marta.
Her wonder goal against Germany in the group stage was voted as the best of the tournament and nominated for the Puskas award.
Caicedo, who has been the poster girl for the rise of women’s football in Colombia, could play at the Under-20 Women’s World Cup on home soil later in August.
Athletes at the Milano Cortina Winter Games have raced through their free condom supply ahead of Valentine’s Day, leaving dispensers empty on Saturday, with more than a week of competition remaining.
According to a report by Reuters, organisers had distributed around 10,000 condoms across the city and mountain accommodation sites, continuing a long-standing Olympic tradition aimed at promoting safe relationships among competitors living in close quarters.
By Saturday, however, supplies had run out — adding Milan to a growing list of Olympic hosts where demand has comfortably exceeded expectations.
“Clearly, this shows Valentine’s Day is in full swing at the village,” International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams told a press conference. “Ten thousand have been used — 2,800 athletes — you can go figure, as they say.”
Adams added with a smile: “It is rule 62 of the Olympic Charter that we have to have a condoms story. Faster, higher, stronger, together.”
Milano Cortina organisers later acknowledged that stocks had been depleted due to “higher-than-anticipated demand,” but assured that additional supplies were already on the way.
“Additional supplies are being delivered and will be distributed across all Villages between today and Monday,” organisers said in a statement. “They will be continuously replenished until the end of the Games to ensure continued availability.”
The unexpected shortage also surprised some athletes.
Mexican figure skater Donovan Carrillo said he had only just heard about the situation. “I just saw that this morning. I was, like, shocked as everyone else,” he said.
Mialitiana Clerc, an alpine skier representing Madagascar, noted that boxes once placed at building entrances were quickly emptied.
“There were a lot of boxes at the entrance of every building where we were staying, and every day, everything had gone from the boxes,” Clerc said. “I already know that a lot of people are using condoms, or giving them to their friends outside of the Olympics, because it’s a kind of gift for them.”
While medals remain the official measure of achievement at the Games, the empty dispensers suggest that the social side of the Olympics is also proceeding at full pace.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday awarded a top state honour to an Olympic skeleton racer who was disqualified from the Winter Games for wearing a helmet commemorating athletes killed in the war with Russia.
Zelenskiy, speaking to Vladyslav Heraskevych on the sidelines of the annual Munich Security Conference, said he had great respect for “all the Olympians who supported you and your position.”
“Medals are important for Ukraine and for you, but it seems to me that the most important thing is who you are,” Zelenskiy said while presenting the racer with the Order of Freedom.
Heraskevych told the president the award was “huge” and that the athletes depicted on the helmet “deserve it even more. Because of their sacrifice, we can compete in the Olympics.”
Heraskevych, 27, was disqualified at the Winter Games in Italy on Thursday when the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation jury ruled that the helmet’s depiction of athletes killed since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 breached rules on political neutrality.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed his appeal on Friday.
Heraskevych told reporters after the award ceremony that his disqualification was discriminatory as he had not violated the Olympic Charter, a document he said he “really valued.”
“But at the same time, I understand that this scandal has united people around the world about our problem and about the sacrifice of these great athletes, and I believe this goal is much more important than any medal,” he said.
Speaking before the CAS hearing earlier in the day, Heraskevych said his exclusion and rules imposed by the International Olympic Committee were “an instrument of propaganda for Russia. I still receive a lot of threats from the Russian side.”
-Reuters
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Ukraine’s skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified from the Milano Cortina Winter Games on Thursday over the use of a helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes killed in the war with Russia, the International Olympic Committee said.
He was informed of his disqualification after a meeting with IOC President Kirsty Coventry early in the morning at the sliding venue.
His team said they would appeal the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Coventry told reporters she had wanted to meet the athlete face to face in a last-ditch effort to break the impasse.
“I was not meant to be here but I thought it was really important to come here and talk to him face to face,” Coventry told reporters.
“No one, especially me, is disagreeing with the messaging, it’s a powerful message, it’s a message of remembrance, of memory.
“The challenge was to find a solution for the field of play. Sadly we’ve not been able to find that solution” she added, choking up.
“I really wanted to see him race, It’s been an emotional morning.”
The IOC offered him the opportunity to display his “helmet of remembrance” depicting 24 images of dead compatriots before the start and after the end of Thursday’s race at the Games, while also allowing him to wear a black armband while competing.
“I am disqualified from the race. I will not get my Olympic moment,” said Heraskevych.
The skeleton competition starts later on Thursday.
-Reuters
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