Daniel Alves received almost everything as a professional footballer. He has won league titles in three countries, won nine cups, stood at the top of Europe with the club and the top of South America with the country. He has won 41 major honors, making him one of the most accomplished players in history. But when Andrei Jardim (brazil's Olympic men's soccer team manager) invited him to take on one last job, his eyes still lit up.
Jardim told Alves that one thing was missing in his career. Despite all his accomplishments, he has never played in the Olympics, let alone won a medal. Alves, 38, couldn't resist.
Men's soccer at the Olympics is basically a matter for under 23 years old. At the Tokyo Olympics, most of the players of each team cannot have been born earlier than January 1, 1997, but can carry three "overage" players.
Jardim has been thinking about how to recruit brazil's overagers. When Alves missed the Copa America due to injury, he believed that the opportunity came to recruit a "man who is respected by all Brazilian players, a leader, a winner", a player who not only has "a lot of charisma", but also has a lot of experience.
You can easily understand Alves' choice. The Olympic Games are magical, and it is very incredible to be able to represent your country and people on the Olympic field.
However, leaving aside Alves' motivation to play for his country, the fact that the Olympic men's football game is not so important in the entire football world.
Alves' ultimate goal is still to play for Brazil in next summer's World Cup, but injuries have prevented him from entering Brazil's Copa America squad this summer. Participating in the Olympics is an option for him to prove that he can still play football and make a final attempt for next year's World Cup.
The Olympic men's soccer teams in each country are like a makeshift squad. At the same time, Olympic medals are far less attractive to footballers than those important League Cup winners.
Take a look at the overage players of other teams. New Zealand brought their best player, Burnley's burly striker Chris Wood, hoping to hit the medal. France, on the other hand, chose André-Pierre Guinjak and Florian Tauwen, as well as Tegi Savanier, none of whom play in the big five leagues and are certainly not the best players in France.
Argentina and Romania each brought only one overage player, one as a goalkeeper and one as a free agent. Neither country has sent star players, in part because the Olympic games are not on the official schedule recognized by FIFA, and they do not have the ability to force clubs to release people.
The only countries that seem to be serious about it are Spain and Japan. The former sent a group of players who had just returned from the semi-finals of Euro 2020. The latter has sent almost the best players, including some who have participated in previous Olympic games, and even veteran stars of Europe's five major leagues.
However, how much the Olympic gold medal is worth in the football world is debatable. Look at Messi, who led Argentina to an Olympic gold medal in 2008, but not many people remember it. Not long ago, Messi led Argentina to win the Copa America championship, and became a god in one fell swoop. That's enough proof of the brutal, perhaps unfair, fact of Olympic men's football. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter much.
Of course, for women's football, the situation is different. The Olympic women's soccer tournament is the most talked about event. When U.S. women's soccer forward Abby Vanbach published her book in 2019, her title in the cover introduction was not World Cup champion, but two-time Olympic gold medalist. It can be seen that olympic gold medals are crucial for women's football.
However, with the development of the Women's World Cup, the status of the Olympic Games may be weakened. But in the short term, the Olympics are the pinnacle of women's football.
Overall, it's not a bad thing to go to the Olympics and win gold medals at the Olympics. After all, it was real gold.