Olympics football has always been deemed as the cradle to the world’s greatest talents. Spanning from Sophus Nielsen to Neymar, the podium has played host to a gazillion talents all across the globe and gave them the much-needed springboard to explode onto the national scene at a much higher level.
Sadly, a few faded into oblivion while others rode on the limelight to shoot for the stars. A predominant bunch of youth laced with a handful of experienced campaigners brings life to one of the most underrated events of the quadrennial extravaganza.
This year’s Olympics is also playing host to a string of stars that include the likes of Richarlison, Florian Thauvin, Guillermo Ochoa, Maya Yoshida, Chris Wood, Pedri, Dani Olmo, Mikel Oyarzabal, Marco Asensio and countless other prospects who will be taking the football world by storm in the years to come.
In today’s story, we will be taking a look at the four potential semi-finalists of the Olympics 2020.
Spain:
Unarguably, this is the best team in football at Olympics 2020, given the availability of six of their promising stars from the national team making the cut. In the recently concluded Euro Cup, these players propelled Spain to an upbeat finish in the semis where they lost to the eventual champions, Italy after a heart-wrenching tie-breaker.
It has the likes of Dani Olmo, Eric Garcia, Pau Torres, Unai Simon, Mikel Oyarzabal and Pedri who played crucial roles in shaping the fortunes of Spain in the continental extravaganza. Spain also has a solid preceptor in Luis de la Fuente who has been guiding the youth teams of Spain in a phenomenal way and was also successful in grabbing the UEFA U-19 championship in 2015 and U-21 championship in 2019.
This will be Spain’s attempt at winning a gold medal in Olympics football after a staggering 29 years and being candid, this is also their best shot at it.
Brazil:
The reason Brazil will be one of the heftiest title contenders in the tournament is because of their current blistering form and the promising talent that they have brought along with themselves to this tournament.
They just upstaged Germany with zero mercy as Richarlison hammered home a stunning hat-trick to bag a 4-2 victory for them. This victory will also bring them the hopes of overcoming a super-pumped group stage comprising the likes of Germany and the Ivory Coast.
The partnership of Douglas Luiz and Dani Alves will be a major booster for the Seleccao that will be compounded by the menace of Richarlison, Gabriel Martinelli and Douglas Luiz.
Ivory Coast:
Ivory Coast will be spearheaded by Max Gradel and Eric Bailly to try and clinch its first medal in Olympics. The team will also be starring the likes of experienced AC Milan star, Franck Kessie and young Manchester United Striker, Amad Diallo.
The team will be led by Soualiho Haidara who was also the gaffer to most of the players in the 2019 U-23 AFCON where they finished as the runners-up. Despite being conscripted in the group of death, it is expected that Ivory Coast will be heading to the final four.
New Zealand:
This is a highly unexpected shot at the glorious semis, but in a mad game of football, anything is possible with a bit of belief and the tenacity to dig deep. Led by the likes of Chris Wood and Winston Reid, the Kiwis can topple a couple of shiny names to sail through the first two rounds.
They already edged past a soaring South Korea in a clinical manner and will be locking horns with Honduras to book their berth in the second round. They have shown an exemplary command over the attack and can be the surprise entry into the final four.
