Well what a night was had by all 70,000 at the Millennium stadium! from start to finish it was a party mood, with both Team GB and Uruguay supporters mixing well and thoroughly enjoying the occasion. The preceding game of Mexico v Switzerland couldn't have contrasted more, with both teams playing as if they didn't want to be there, making both Team GB and Uruguay, the top billing. Many pundits and fans were not happy with the selection of Stuart Pearce, but his selection was part of the reason why I have followed this journey with Team GB, notwithstanding his selection too of the Swansea players, and while many supporters criticise him, and his tactics, for me he was an inspirational appointment, that showed some lateral thinking by the powers that be. This too played out on the field, where Team GB has been gathering some fine momentum to last nights game, and what a game it was, with Team GB holding all the possession stakes, and with Allen and Ramsey calling the tempo and rhythm in the centre of midfield, though I was also impressed with the shift that Cleverley put in. It was difficult last night to choose the MOTM, as so many players played to such a high level, to contain the talent of Uruguay, and while Sturridge had little but a tap in for the goal, the build up from Sinclair to Allen, and then Joe's sweet move on Diego Rodriguez, totally deceiving him for setting up Sturridge for the goal, brought home to me how far young Joe has come, from his loan to Wrexham some years ago. Now if you think we will have trouble keeping Joe Allen, then get ready for Niel Taylor, because he showed last night on the World stage, what a Brilliant and flexible player he is, playing out of position at right back, was a walk in the park for him, as he stamped his authority on the game from start to finish, add to this the outstanding game of Ramsey too, and it's no wonder why Stuart Pearce has gone with such a strong Welsh presence in his team. Finally one can only reflect on the contrasting styles of Pearce's Team GB and Hodgsonâs England, and after last night, I know which team I'd prefer to watch, did I say it was like watching Swansea City play? Makes you think..............
Pearce obviously picked a squad to play the passing game and it's now paying dividends although the warm-up game with Brazil was a bit dire. The Swansea and Wales contingent are playing a big part and, as you say, what a contrast to England in the Euros. Will Team GB reach the semis for another match-up with Brazil? Let's hope so. Unfortuantely, the exposure of the Swansea players within Team GB is now leading to more transfer rumours (Taylor).
Man of the match for me was Craig Bellamy. I'm not a fan of his,but last night he made me sit up a bit,and perhaps I need to reconsider my opinion of him,at least on the field of play. Team GB were very good,but Uruguay were pretty poor overall. The Swansea contingent were much in evidence,and enhanced their reputations.
THE ENGLISH UNDER 23 SQUAD Please when referring to the english olympic football team , can we refer to it by its correct name Thanks in advance.
Bellamy has been superb and I bet he was relishing the passes that Taylor was pinging down the flanks for him. To be honest it's not something I've seen Taylor do too often for the Swans. Sinclair and Dyer usually received the ball to feet in front of their full backs and then had it all to do. Those passes in behind the defence can really be dangerous, so I hope that Taylor will continue to look for them when he's back with us. That applies to Rangel as well and I do remember posting during the season that we should look for that ball a lot more than we were. We've got two fliers on the flanks and I was never convinced that we made the best use of them.
Can we leave the politics in the boot room Mabon please!! .................I'm a Stuart Pearce fan too by the way, and Pearce plays good football, he plays the Swansea way! Good choice there Vetch, I'm still sitting on the fence as to MOTM though.................
Hard to do that, Mabs, when Taylor, Allen, Ramsey, Bellamy and Giggs are proving so influential. Hell, they might even win us a medal!!
When you think that stuart has had a short time to put a team together and the way they have played is unbelievable. to all the doubters who thought team GB would be out in the group stage must now admit they were wrong as we top the group and qualified to the knock out stage......Every single british player has played their part with some outstanding performances by Bells,joe,tailor and sinclair in the last match, the British crowd have warmed to this tournament by the size of the crowd and shows that we should have a team in every future olympics from now on.....Well done to stuart who a lot of people wrote off before the games who now has a big smile across his face....
It's been a great outcome so far and we have the means to get past Brazil and win this tournament. Brazil is going to be very tough to beat, but if everybody is going at their best and we play the Swansea Four we can do it - I still think of Caulker as being a Swansea boy, at least until the start of the Prem season.
please log in to view this image Nothing was said in the press, but the pitch was poor yesterday, kicking up, and players losing their grip, which again is an issue at the Millennium, the question is when will they ever get it right, this was the only issue to a great event, and as you can see from the picture dozens of little men with yellow buckets came out inbetween games to pick up the debris, something you'll not see at the Liberty!..............
ramsey has been great also and he is a must. The passing is improving with every game so i dont take much notice of the last brazil game as we look much better now and should we get to play them will give them a game...leave out giggs though he gives the ball away to much and dont have the pace for the quick passing game like the younger players......
And there was me thinking they were picking up coins that cardiff fans had thrown at The Swans' players.
Am I the only one that thought Ramsey was poor at times last night and kept giving the ball away, perhaps I'm so used to seeing the Swans retain possession that his carelessness frustrated me. Joe completely outshone him once again with another assured performance whilst Taylor showed how classy he has become even playing right instead of his usual left back. It benefitted Belamy to receive some lovely passes from him whilst Scott was less successful with no help from Bertram on the other wing. Have to say it was great to be at the Mill Stad yesterday, got there really early and it definitely felt like being part of the Olympic games rather than just two football matches, before the first kick off the big screens showed Bradley Wiggins gold medal cycle win live which raised a huge cheer inside the stadium. Fans from all four nations made it a colourful and memorable event although the first game wasn't particularly exciting, the Swiss should really have wrapped it up by half time with all their neat possession and goal chances. Mexico however came back into it in the second with the only goal, it was a bit weird being a neutral and my allegiance fluctuated from one to other depending on who was playing best at the time. The main event of course was the second game and it was played in a great atmosphere with the GB fans getting right behind the team as they have done for every event Britain have participated in in these Olympics, just about deserved the win after some worrying moments late on and it was fantastic to see so many young kids some of whom were there for their first ever football match enjoying this special occasion.
No Liberty ... Ramsay does some good things but then makes wrong decisions and loses /gives away posession. He tries to look for the miracle ball when it's not required. However, he has played good enought to merit his place! Must say, overalll impressed by all the Welsh boys/Swansea boys/Ex Swans loans.....best team players on the pitch by far with/without the ball.
Must say, highlight last night was Giggsy trying to hide his laughs when Bellamy was ranting as he sat down on the bench! You gotta love Bellamy, the Cardiff git!
Yes you got to love his protesting at the ref herding him off the pitch, but he was time wasting! all the Team GB bench were laughing.................... Met some Uruguay fans outside the stadium, who where in a real party mood!.................. please log in to view this image
