Olympic Football: Men's tournament gets underway
Thursday 4 August 2016 15:27, UK
The Rio 2016 Olympics opening ceremony may still be a day away, but the men's football tournament gets underway with eight group games in the first round today.
The matches, spread around Rio, Brasilia, Manaus and Salvador, will see Barcelona's Neymar (Brazil), Tottenham's Son Heung-min (South Korea) and Chelsea's John Obi Mikel (Nigeria) among some big names on show as 16 nations bid to win Olympic football gold.
The competition consists of four groups of four teams, with the top two sides from each of the groups progressing to the quarter-finals before the finalists compete for gold and a third-placed match takes place for bronze.
Hosts Brazil are favourites to claim Olympic gold for the first time, with Lazio midfielder Felipe Anderson and Paris Saint-Germain defender Marquinhos joining poster-boy Neymar in their quest to win the one title which has eluded them.
Elsewhere, reigning Olympic champions Mexico take on Germany as the Germans look to showcase the strength of their national pool with the likes of Max Meyer and Lars Bender when they compete in the tournament for the first time since 1988.
Colombia, whose squad includes Manchester City target Marlos Moreno, face Janne Andersson's Sweden while two-time Olympic champions Argentina meet Portugal in their group opener.
Although there is no British team in the football competition, there will still be some familiar faces on show with a number of Premier League players featuring for their countries.
Spurs striker Son is set to compete for Korea, forcing him to miss Tottenham's first game of the season against Everton.
Liverpool centre-back Tiago Ilori and Manchester United goalkeeper Joel Pereira will feature for Portugal, and Arsenal midfielder Serge Gnabry is included in Germany's side.
Meanwhile, Chelsea's Mikel will mark the beginning of his first Olympic adventure by carrying his country's flag into the opening ceremony on Friday night.
