There are a few stipulations with regard to the age of the squad players. The players selected must be under the age of 23, with three players over that age allowed to supplement the young squad. Teams will play in Groups of 4 with the top two in each Group progressing to the Quarter Finals. The losing team in each Semi-Final will play a 'Bronze Medal Match' to finalise the medal positions.
Venues for the matches themselves are Wembley Stadium, Old Trafford, The Sports Direct Arena, Hampden Park and the City of Coventry Stadium. Therefore, the reach of this tournament spread across a great deal of Britain.
The Groups were drawn as shown:
Group A - Great Britain, Senegal, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay
Group B - Mexico, S.Korea, Gabon, Switzerland
Group C - Brazil, Egypt, Belarus, New Zealand
Group D - Spain, Japan, Honduras, Morocco
We kick off our preview of the Olympic Football with the one all the British public are most interested in, Group A!
The four teams in Group A cover the globe, the cultures and footballing styles are vastly different and will be sure to combine to form a competitive group.
Squads - (first choice starters in bold)
GB - J.Butland, J.Steele, A.McCarthy, N.Taylor, R.Bertrand, S.Caulker, C.Dawson, J.Tomkins, M.Richards, D.Rose, R.Bennett, T.Cleverley, J.Allen, R.Giggs, J.Cork, A.Ramsey, S.Sinclair, A.Johnson, D.Sturridge, C.Bellamy, M.Sordell, J.Rhodes
Senegal - D.Camara, O.Mane, I.Ndiaye, A.Ba, V.Bindia, S.Ciss, P.Gueye, C.Kouyate, K.Mbodji, P.Souare, Z.Toure, S.Badji, M.Diame, I.Gueye, I.Seck, A.Sane, M.Konate, S.Mane, I.Balde, M.Gueye, D.N'Doye, K.Yero
UAE - A.Mahmoud, S.Yousuf, M.Marzooq, S.Saeed, M.Jamal, M.Ahmed, M.Fayez, S.Surour, A.Hussain, H.Al Kamali, H.Al Fardan, A.Sanqour, A.Abdulrahman, M.Fawzi, S.Bargash, M.Jaber, O.Abdulrahman, A.Mabkout, H.Saleh, A.Ali, A.Khalil, I.Matar
Uruguay - L.Gelpi, M.Campana, M.Rodriguez, R.Arias, D.Polenta, A.Rolin, E.Albin, M.Aguirregaray, S.Coates,, M.Silva, A.Silva, J.Urretaviscaya, M.Calzada, D.Rodriguez, C.Pintos, N.Lodeiro, E.Rios, G.Ramirez, T.Viudez, A.Hernandez, L.Suarez, E.Cavani
Competing at their first tournament as 'Team GB' since 1960, they could find the Group relatively tough. With a squad lacking experience outside of the three over-age players added Scotland and Ireland's reluctance to let their players take part, the players selected will have to gel together and battle well against some physical and attacking teams. Key players for Stuart Pearce will be Micah Richards, Ryan Giggs and Daniel Sturridge.
The Lionceaux will be competing at their first Olympics however, a squad with physicality and a bit of core experience may prove a threat. Despite this, they could easily have been stronger, had European clubs allowed players to be released for duty. Key players will be Ousmane Mane, Kalidou Yero, Mame Diame and Abdoulaye Sane.
Having competed in every qualifying stage, this is the UAE's first chance at the Olympics. They are likely to be a stubborn side that are hard to break down. In terms of threats, look out for Hamdan Al Kamali and Omar Abdulrahman.
Uruguay are a successful Olympic football team, winning the tournament on a couple of occasions, however, they have not competed since 1928. This time around, Los Charruas have a squad with high quality. Look out for Diego Polenta, Nicolas Lodeiro, Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez. They will be likely to fight it out with Team GB for the the top of the table.
Mexico - J.Corona, A.Rodriguez, L.Sanchez, I.Jimenez, C.Salcido, H.Mier, D.Chavez, D.Reyes, N.Vidrio, M.Ponce, N.Araujo, H.Herrera, J.Cortes, M.Fabian, J.Aquino, J.Enriquez, C.Ramirez, J.Hernandez, O.Peralta, G.Dos Santos, R.Jimenez, A.Pulido
South Korea - JS Ryong, LB Young, KY Kwang, OJ Suk, YS Young, KY Kwon, JD Ho, KK Hee, HS Ho, KC Soo, KS Yeung, KB Kyung, BS Dong, NT Hee, KM Woo, YI Lok, KJ Cheol, PJ Woo, HK Young, JD Won, PC Young, KH Sung
Gabon - D.Ovono, N.Moundounga, A.Mezui, M.Dinda, S.Nzambe, B.Ecuele, R.Ebanega, E.Ndong, F.Engongah, A.Ndombou, L.Madinga, M.Tandjigora, M.Boussoughou, A.Biyogho, H.Ndong, J.Obiang, S.Mbingui, A.Nono, P.Aubameyang, A.Meye, R.Ntsitsigui, L.Yakouya
Switzerland - D.Benaglio, B.Siegrist, R.Buerki, F.Daprela, F.Affolter, R.Rodriguez, T.Klose, F.Schar, M.Morganella, S.Widmer, X.Hochstrasser, O.Buff, A.Wiss, A.Abrashi, F.Frei, P.Kasami, V.Basha, I.Emeghara, A.Mehmedi, J.Drmic, S.Zuber, H.Seferovic
Mexico have brought with them a decent looking squad. They will be likely to aim to build on their U-17 Championship win of 2011 and their third place finish at the U-20 Championship of the same year. In a fairly even group, they will need to be patient in order to progress, look out for Diego Reyes, Marco Fabian and Giovani dos Santos.
Having won the U-20 Championships in 2009, those players have mostly moved on to this age group and level, therefore South Korea have experience as a team and their determination will be vital. However, they lack any real strike force and so could struggle to clinically finish off chances. Key players for them will be Kim Bo Kyung and Koo Ja Cheol.
Gabon are on debut at the Olympics. However, they come to the tournament having won the African qualifying round, beating the favourites for that crown, Morocco. They will play with pride and determination, shown by their endeavours at the latest African Nations Cup. Their star player, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will provide their greatest threat if he plays. Other key players include Andre Biyogho of Bordeaux and Emmanuel Ndong.
Finally, Switzerland have been hampered by Bayern Munich's refusal to release star man Xherdan Shaqiri. They are competing at their first Olympics in 84 years and had a fair battle on their hands in order to qualify for the tournament. After winning the U-17 World Cup in 2009, the core of that team have now moved on, and are a key part of this squad. Diego Benaglio will bring experience between the posts and keep an eye on Oliver Buff, Pajtim Kasami and Ricardo Rodriguez.
Brazil - R.Cabral, Neto, Gabriel, Rafael da Silva, T.Silva, Marcelo, B.Uvini, Juan, Danilo, Marquinhos, A.Sandro, Sandro, L.Moura, Romulo, Oscar, Ganso, Giuliano, Casemiro, A.Pato, Neymar, L.Damiao, Hulk
Egypt - A.Elshenawi, M.Bassam, A.Lotfi, M.Eldin, A.Fathy, O.Gaber, A.Hegazi, A.Fathi, E.Ramadan, S.Saad, S.Soliman, S.Ahmed, S.Gomaa, H.Hassan, M.El Neny, M.Sobhi, M.Aboutrika, M.Mohsen, E.Meteab, M.Salah, A.Magdy, A.Bekhit
Belarus - A.Gutor, A.Shcerbakov, F.Voytekhovich, I.Kuzmenok, S.Politevich, A.Gavrilovich, M.Vitus, A.Kozlov, D.Polyakov, O.Veretilo, V.Gaiduchik, S.Dragun, D.Baga, R.Bressan, I.Aleksievich, A.Solovei, M.Gordeichuk, S.Kornilenko, V.Khvashchinsky, A.Voronkov, E.Zubovich, M.Skavysh
New Zealand - J.Gleeson, M.O'Keeffe, S.Basalaj, I.Hogg, T.Myers, T.Smith, R.Nelsen, A.Thomas, J.Musa, M.Eagar, L.Rowe, T.Payne, K.Barbarouses, M.McGlinchey, A.Feneridis, C.Howieson, A.McGeorge, C.Lindsay, S.Smeltz, C.Wood, M.Rojas, D.Lucas
It is tough to see beyond one team for qualification from Group C. Brazil have tournament experience and their squad full of world class young talent should outclass their opposition.
The sheer wealth of talent in the Brazil squad is unrivalled. This fact can be shown by noticing that 8 of the 22 man squad are attracting interest from Premier League and La Liga clubs. Their defence, midfield and attack are all formidable and at the U-23 level, they are the only team at the Olympics to have played as their actual national team in recent times. Key players for the Auriverde are tough to pick out, however the name that attracts the most attention has to be the Santos star, Neymar. Leandro Damiao is likely to provide service to Neymar aswell as additional goal threat and should he play, Lucas Moura, the Manchester United target, will mean a huge threat for the opposition with his dribbling skills.
In the past, Egypt have played in 10 Olympic tournaments, only getting past the Group stage in 4. They got through qualification relatively easily, only losing to Morocco, however will probably find the game against Brazil too tough and will be tested by Belarus. Key players for Egypt will be Ahmed El Shenawi and Mohamed El Neny.
Belarus are competing at their first major tournament as a nation after the collapse of the Soviet Union. They have recently surprised a few by finishing in third place at the U-21 Championships, therefore their youthful talent is noticeable. Their key player will be Andrei Voronkov, their talisman striker.
Finally, New Zealand will probably find the tournament tough. Their only previous appearance at the Olympics was in Beijing 4 years ago, where Brazil humbled them 5-0. The Oly White's current crop of players has a good amount of flair and creativity. Key players for them will be the Englishbased Tommy Smith and Chris Wood, Marco Rojas and their main star Kosta Barbarouses
Spain - D.De Gea, J.Robles, D.Marino, J.Alba, C.Azpilicueta, A.Botia, V.Ruiz, A.Dominguez, I.Martinez, J.Martinez, A.Illarramendi, M.Montoya, C.Tello, A.Herrera, Isco, Koke, J.Mata, O.Romeu, A.Lopez, I.Muniain, Rodrigo, A.Vazquez
Japan - S.Gonda, S.Ando, A.Hayashi, Y.Tokunaga, H.Sakai, M.Yoshida, K.Yamamura, G.Sakai, D.Suzuki, K.Oiwa, T.Ogihara, T.Muramatsu, K.Higashi, T.Usami, H.Yamaguchi, H.Kiyotake, T.Yonemoto, Y.Otsu, K.Sugimoto, K.Nagai, M.Saito, R.Yamazaki
Honduras - J.Mendoza, F.Reyes, M.Licona, W.Crisanto, M.Figueroa, H.Colon, V.Velasquez, J.Leveron, E.Alvarado, A.Peralta, M.Martinez, A.Mejia, A.Lopez, O.Peralta, A.Najar, R.Espinoza, L.Garrido, W.Fuentes, A.Lozano, J.Bengtson, E.Hernandez, R.Quioto
Morocco - M.Amsif, Y.Bounou, Y.El Houasli, A.Noussir, M.Abarhoun, A.El Kaoutari, Z.Bergdich, Z.Feddal, Y.Jebbour, E.Bellaroussi, I.Najah, D.Fettouhi, A.Barrada, O.El Kaddouri, H.Kharja, R.Frikeche, M.Bemammer, Z.Labyad, N.Amrabat, S.Bidaoui, S.El Hassnaoui, A.Tighadouini
Group D is likely to centre around the battle between two teams; Spain and Japan.
Spain haven't competed at the Olympics for 12 years, a surprise considering the wealth of talent their country posesses. Like their national side, La Roja have repeatedly failed to impress on the World stage, but now their main team have won the World Cup and European Championships, is it time for their U-23 team to do the same at the Olympics? The squad itself is overflowing with talent, only rivalled by Brazil. David De Gea will be likely to start in goal, while the relentless energy of Cesar Azpilicueta, the passing prowess of Ander Herrera and finishing of Adrian Lopez will provide a solid core to the team. The inclusion of Jordi Alba only serves as a world class selection and he could tear apart teams with his pace.
The biggest threat to Spain will be the Japanese side. They dominated the Asian qualifying leg without a handful of their main European stars. They are a determined side with attacking flair and a very high level of precision. Key players will be Hiroki Sakai, Takahashi Usami and Yuki Otsu.
Honduras have only played at the Olympics on a few occasions, never getting past the Group Stage. Key players for El Tri will be Johnny Leveron, Maynor Figueroa, Roger Espinoza and Eddie Hernandez.
Morocco have failed to many a significant impact at any Olympics they have participated in. Coach Pim Verbeek tends to use players that ply their trade outside of Morocco, which has achieved some success for his side. Ther progression will be likely to depend on Abdelaziz Barrada, Driss Fettouhi and Adnane Tighadouini.
Therefore, we think the qualification stage itself will be fairly easy to predict. Team GB and Uruguay will be the two likely progressers from Group A, with Uruguay in top spot.
Group B is tough to predict, due to its close nature. We expect South Korea and Switzerland to be the ones who eventually progress however Gabon could be one to watch as a possible surprise wildcard.
When you look at Group C, the winner is obvious, we expect Brazil to win all three games, however second place is a tougher choice. Egypt's previous experience should be enough to see them through.
Finally, Group D is an easy choice. Spain and Japan should have too much class for Honduras and Morocco and therefore, will progress.
The Gold Medal winner is much harder to predict, however, on paper, we expect the final to be contested between Spain and Brazil. This is largely due to the sheer quality of their squads and the depth of their reserves.
What is certain is that the tournament will be a fantastic spectacle and a showcasing of young talent possibly yet to make its mark on the world stage. Could the next global star be ready to make his mark at these Games?
We look forward to seeing the tournament take shape over the next week and will provide reviews and summaries of goings on around the nation's top stadiums.
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