Today Stuart Pearce named his 18-man Team GB squad for the London 2012 Olympics and said former England captain and London 2012 ambassador David Beckham was left out for 'footballing reasons'. This shows quite clearly the biggest mistake Pearce has made, for Great Britain, football isn't a 'proper tournament', and it should have been a celebration of football from all four countries.
A Great British team playing football at the Olympics is something must of us will all only see once in a lifetime, this shouldn't be a team that tries to go out and win, the teams from South America use the competition seriously and have U23 squads that are a country mile ahead of ours.
There should be no pressure on these players to win, it should be a celebration of English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish football, as for once, all four countries come together. Pearce however, has failed to notice this, picking a team based from players just from England and Wales.
Secondly, Beckham is the star attraction, the Olympics isn't just the regular die-hard football fan attending. This is families, some of whom with no interest in football but are caught up in 'brand Beckham' hype.
If Pearce thinks this tournament is going to propel him back into football he is sadly mistaken, Hodgson has frozen him out of the England back room staff and a poor showing here could have him out of the FA and on the scrap heap.
