Andrey Shakhov: "The Olympic tournament is a mysterious phenomenon. I don’t expect anything outstanding from the French national

Famous Ukrainian journalist Andrey Shakhov shared his opinions about the football tournament at the Olympic Games in Paris. For the first time in history, the Ukrainian national team will play in such competitions.

"The Olympic tournament is such a mysterious phenomenon that making predictions is a thankless task. Sometimes this football tournament reminds me of some women’s competitions due to its lack of logic, where such sensations happen that you don’t know what to expect and from whom. It seems you always expect something serious from traditional favorites like Brazil or Argentina, as well as from famous European giants. But again, looking at the composition of participants in the 2024 Olympics, not all giants even made it there. The Brazilian national team itself will not participate, having not passed the South American qualifiers...

If we dig deeper, in previous Olympic football games, teams that never achieved anything at the World Cup level have won or at least played in the finals. For example, Nigeria or Mexico. For a while, the Cameroon national team played successfully. In short, there are many surprises at the Olympics. And the fact that only young players can participate in the tournament (with the exception of three older players that the team can add) only increases the likelihood of surprises.

It is also very important that the Olympic tournament takes place during the so-called non-FIFA dates, and clubs are not obliged to release their leaders. This also complicates the possibility of making any predictions. If we recall the recent Olympics, since Spain in 1992, no European team has won the Olympics: the winners have been Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Cameroon, Nigeria. Interestingly, Brazil is the reigning Olympic champion in football, yet will not even qualify for the Olympics. Therefore, I would refrain from making predictions about the outcomes of this tournament at the Olympics.

Of course, we have a squad for the Ukrainian national team that is far from optimal. But clubs have their own interests. And the clubs can be understood. I am generally a proponent of giving much more respect to football clubs. Because it is in clubs that footballers receive their salaries and spend most of their careers.

At the same time, one can also understand the coaching staff of the Olympic national team. They are, to put it mildly, dissatisfied and can only throw up their hands regarding the fact that they could not gather all the strongest players. This is another reason why personally I do not expect anything outstanding from European teams at these Olympic Games. It seems to me that the favorites will not be Europeans. And although the Olympics is taking place in Paris, I do not expect anything outstanding from the French national team either.

If I were to predict the performance of the Ukrainian national team, I am lost here too. If we had such a group at the World Cup, it could be said that Ukraine should qualify. But in the Olympic tournament, Argentina, in my opinion, will be one of the favorites. I can’t even imagine what to expect from Morocco and Iraq. In general, in recent Olympics, African teams have performed quite decently," noted Shakhov.