Pearce names GB squad
Stuart Pearce has named his 18-man Team GB squad for the Olympics
Five Welsh and 13 English players have been selected for Great Britain's men's Olympic football squad for London 2012.
Team GB manager Stuart Pearce has not picked any Scottish or Northern Irish players for the tournament. The announcement of the squad confirmed that David Beckham has missed out with Ryan Giggs, Craig Bellamy and Micah Richards named as the three over-age players allowed - all the others have to be under 23.
Swansea have three players named, the most of any club - Scott Sinclair, Joe Allen and Neil Taylor, while Tottenham defender Steven Caulker, who has also been included, was on loan at the Liberty Stadium last season.
Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge is also chosen, as is Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey and Manchester United Tom Cleverley. Tottenham's Gareth Bale would have been selected but has been ruled out due to injury.
Pearce confirmed there was no political pressure on him to select Beckham for his Team GB Olympic squad - and would not have accepted the job if there had been. As expected, the omission of Beckham - a key figure in the London 2012 bid process and beyond - somewhat overshadowed the naming of the 18 players who will line up at the Games.
"From the offset, when I sat down with the (Football Association) chairman David Bernstein, some time before Christmas, he offered me the opportunity to pick the squad," he said. "If at that stage he had said to me that certain individuals would have to be included I certainly wouldn't do that job. I don't know any manager worth their salt who would have."
Asked directly if Beckham would be part of the touchline team - much as he was at the 2010 World Cup which he missed through injury - Pearce said: "We only have seven passes (for backroom staff). We have no passes for that. The players have to be prepared to come through the door on form alone and that happens to be the case with staffing too: they have their role to play."
London 2012 will be the first time that Team GB have competed in the men's football competition since the 1960 Games in Rome. Team GB kick off their campaign at Old Trafford against Senegal on July 26, before playing the United Arab Emirates at Wembley on July 29 and Uruguay at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on August 1.
Team GB squad: Jack Butland (Birmingham), Jason Steele (Middlesbrough); Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Steven Caulker (Tottenham), Craig Dawson (West Brom), Micah Richards (Manchester City), Neil Taylor (Swansea), James Tomkins (West Ham).
Joe Allen (Swansea), Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Jack Cork (Southampton), Ryan Giggs (Manchester United), Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal), Danny Rose (Tottenham), Scott Sinclair (Swansea); Craig Bellamy (Liverpool), Marvin Sordell (Bolton), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea).
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As a supporter of all things British, I am really disgusted and annoyed by this squad selection.
Please explain to me why there is no Northern Irish or Scottish representation in the squad. Why Team G.B?.. Should this not now be Team England/Wales?.
There should be, at the very least, one player from Northern Ireland and one from Scotland.
Where is the incentive to watch progress of this team when all the home nations are not represented?
I can only assume that Pearce does not know any Northern Irish or Scottish players, or is simply not interested in considering any of them.
Bang goes any support you may have had from Northern Ireland and Scotland. Both nations will just want the so called team GB to get thumped and knocked out yet again early doors.
Beckham if nothing else would have been a crowd puller and for his efforts to promote the attempt to win the hosting of the games should have been included and Captained his country.
Stuart Pearce should admit he was wrong.
So I thought the GB Olympics team would be the best of our young footballers from England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland ... Ryan Giggs, although a great player is 39, Craig Bellamy is 33. Are there really no good players under the age of 25 that could have taken the place of those OLD guys? Maybe a player from Northern Ireland or Scotland under 21 squad?
How about players like David Wotherspoon, Paul Hanlon, Ross Perry, Danny Wilson who have multiple caps for Scotland? Or Oliver Norwood, Will Grigg or Shane Ferguson who have multiple caps for Northern Ireland? What is wrong with those guys?
David Beckham at 37 should not have been considered for a position on the field, but may have been beneficial as an assistant coach and could have been a great talisman for the GB squad. Furthermore, with him in the dugout more people would watch the matches both in the stands and on TV.
