KEIR RADNEDGE in PARIS —- The 2024 Olympic Games kicked off, literally, here today even though the formal Opening Ceremony with all its brouhaha must wait until Friday.

Eight matches – two in each of the four groups – were scheduled for the initial matchday in the men’s tournament with highly-rated Spain in afternoon action against Uzbekistan in Group C in the Parc des Princes in the south-west of the French capital.

The world under-21 champions were writing a small slice of history – these Games are the first to see Spain in action in both men and women’s tournaments. A further fascination was a sight of the next generation being brought through by Spain, men’s senior European champions.

Uzbekistan made a lively start which ultimately drew the first yellow card of these Olympics for the Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsi, at 17 the youngest member of coach Santi Denia’s squad.

La Rojita then took the lead after their first coherent attack with a left-wing cross from Sergio Gomez being popped home at the far post by raiding rightback Marc Pubill. Gomez, from Manchester City, is one of four foreign-based players in the Spanish squad.

Gomez drew a secure low save from keeper Abduvohid Nematov and Uzbekistan ran away on the counter-attack. Referee Dahane Beida played on after a tangle of legs and bodies in the Spanish box but was eventually advised by VAR to check the video. That resulted in a penalty converted by Roma midfielder Eldor Shomurodov.

Football’s early staging was nothing to do with the sport’s worldwide pre-eminence but the simple fact that the number of matches needs more staging time outside the traditional two weeks.

In fact football is is one of the oldest Olympic sports and, despite the primacy of the FIFA World Cup, remains the Games’ top-seller with more than 300,000 tickets.

The Olympic Games is not an official event in the FIFA international calendar so clubs cannot be compelled to release players. This always prompts club v country disputes. For example, France would like Kylian Mbappe lining up for them on home turf in Paris but his new club, Real Madrid, want him in pre-season training with them instead.

The men’s tournament features 16 teams and the women’s to 12, including the long-dominant United States and last year’s newly-crowned Women’s World Cup winners Spain. The seven venues include Bordeaux, Décines-Charpieu (near Lyon), Marseille, Nantes, Nice and Saint-Etienne with the gold medal finals in the Parc des Princes in Paris.

Early start

Football was first seen at the Games in 1896, with a scratch tournament involving teams from Denmark, Athens and Izmir. It was a demonstration sport in Paris in 1900 and again in 1904 in St Louis before being voted into the main programme for 1908 in London. The England amateur team were winners both then and again in 1912.

The 1920 Games in Antwerp saw the Belgian hosts declared champions after their Czechoslovak opponents stormed off the pitch in protest at the refereeing. Four years later brought sensation of a different kind when a South American nation, Uruguay, appeared for the first time.

The Uruguayans brought with them dazzling ball skills which amazed the Europeans. They fielded some of their all-time greats such as Nasazzi, Andrade, Vidal, Scarone, Petrone, Cea and Romano. No wonder Switzerland lost 3–0 in the final.

Four years later the Uruguayans returned, along with rivals Argentina, at the 1928 Amsterdam Games. They met in the Final and Uruguay won 2-1 after a replay 2–1 to retain the gold medal. Uruguay’s success and the advent of professionalism prompted the creation of the World Cup and the absence of football from Los Angeles in 1932.

Italy’s turn

Italy were the next Olympic champions, beating Austria 2–1 in the 1936 Final in Berlin. The first post-war Games saw Sweden win in London in 1948 before a 28-year takeover by the so-called ‘state amateurs’ of communist eastern Europe (Hungary, Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Poland, East Germany and Czechoslovakia). That monopoly ended in 1984 when France profited from a new eligibility ruling which turned an official blind eye to professionalism.

FIFA, jealously guarding its World Cup, insisted on the IOC turning Olympic Games football into an under-23 competition in Barcelona in 1992. Then Atlanta in 1996 saw both the introduction of three overage players for the men’s team and the launch of a women’s tournament to attract their US fans.

First men’s African gold medallists were Nigeria in 1996 and Cameroon in 2000 before Latin America took over with Argentina and Brazil each winning twice and Mexico once. Argentina’s winners in Beijing in 2008 were led by Leo Messi.

Increasing significance now attaches to the women’s competition which was added to the Olympic programme in Atlanta in 1984. This is because no age restrictions exist so the Olympics remain an alternative world cup.

Indeed, for the first time the women’s Olympic final will be played a day after, instead of 24 hours before, the men’s showdown.

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