Olympic men's football champions by year. Kinds of sports. Olympic Games with Russia in neutral status

In 1956, our Soviet football team became the champion of the Olympic Games in Melbourne. You can shout “hurray” and clap your hands. However, let's face it.

Of course, I understand that such a headline can get you in the face. Especially from people of the older generation who remember Igor Netto, Eduard Streltsov, Lev Yashin...

But let's calmly figure it out. Moreover, I, too, am no longer a boy and, just like you, I admire these wonderful football players.

And I promise that on the pages of my blog I will definitely pay tribute to them. Everyone together and everyone separately. But not at this time.

Let me start, perhaps, with the fact that football at the Olympic Games does not have the same status and prestige as at the World Championship. That's how it happened initially. More precisely, since 1930, when the first World Football Championship was held, in which, unlike the Olympic Games, professionals could participate.

Olympic principle of amateurism

Have you forgotten one of the main principles of the Olympics? Only amateurs can participate. Here is a short definition of an amateur athlete.

I see, right? In more detail, it looks like this:

Didn't receive salary
Didn't receive any bonuses
I did not receive any cash or other valuable prizes. By the way, read what kind of performance we had to put on in order for our
Didn't sell awards

And this applies not only to football. Although I think football suffered the most. So what was Europe to do? After all, already from the mid-30s of the last century, professional football in the Old World began to gain momentum.

Even if Italy, Spain, Great Britain or France had followed our path and placed their football players in factories, in trade unions or in the army, nothing would have worked out.

Firstly. Salaries... small
Secondly. Premium...small
Third. Without valuable prizes and cash rewards

In short, they won’t play there for a diploma.

So, wait strong teams there were none from Western Europe.

Which teams were represented?

Everything would be fine. Amateurs are, well, amateurs. And the presence of teams from Holland, Spain or Switzerland at the Olympics would undoubtedly add intrigue to the tournament. But they weren't there. Just like there was no very good Hungarian team.

The reasons, unfortunately, were common for that time - political. And if the principle of amateurism was more or less respected, then no attention was paid to “sport outside politics”. Hence the boycotts.

Holland, Spain, Switzerland and Hungary boycotted the Games in connection with the Hungarian events of 1956, when Soviet troops brutally suppressed the Hungarian uprising.
Iraq did not send its team, protesting against the aggression of France, England and Israel in Egypt
China did not want to participate in the same Olympics as Taiwan.

In the end, that's who was left.

Australia
Bulgaria
Great Britain
India
Indonesia
JKG (United Team Germany)
Taiwan
Yugoslavia
Japan

You see everything for yourself. Of these 11 teams actually claimed gold only two. Ours and the Bulgarians (it’s a pity that they met in the semi-finals). The rest were off the list of applicants. Even the Germans, British and Yugoslavs. Everyone sent their second squads to the games.

Brief review of games

1/8 finals USSR-OKG 2:1

Well what can I say. Our cool (without quotes) team came out against 19-23 year old boys... And if we take into account that the USSR national team beat the German team (by the way, the World Champions) 2:1 a couple of months before the Olympics, then no one expected any difficulties from these young guys.

Let him tell you how the match turned out.

A very difficult game... a team completely unknown to us - only young people... The Germans immediately went on the defensive. We replayed them, but there was no result for a long time.
Still, we won. We are pleased with the result, but remain dissatisfied with the game.

Well, to be honest, dissatisfaction with the game remained not only among the players, but also among the coaches, and among everyone who saw this game.

1/4 finals USSR-Indonesia. First game 0:0. Second - 4:0

First, let me explain that there were no penalty shootouts back then. And if after extra time there was no winner, a replay was scheduled.

What happened at the first game cannot be called anything other than “Shame.” There can be no excuses at all. In 120 minutes, you can’t score a single goal against a team that you can’t even call weak!

Let's listen to Igor Netto.

I will never forget this game.. We were really expecting an easy walk... and we thought about saving our energy before the semi-final..
We didn’t find the key to them, didn’t find an approach... We left the field with our heads down...

Nothing to add. And let’s not rub salt into the wound... Moreover, in the replay everything fell into place.

1/2 finals USSR-Bulgaria. 2:1

As I already said, the Bulgarians are the only team equal to ours in strength at this Olympics. And the game worked out. It was both very intense and spectacular. It was in this game that our players demonstrated their best qualities...including the will to win.

Eight minutes before the end of extra time, the USSR national team was losing 1:0. But, they managed to pull themselves together and, in fact, ten of us (more on that below) snatched victory. And, despite the tar, without which there is no way, the result is not according to the game.... The Bulgarians played better, they were lucky, etc., well done anyway!

Final USSR-Yugoslavia. 1:0

A lot of good words have been said about this game and to Soviet football players. I agree about the game. The game was interesting, fast, double-edged. Thanks to the Yugoslavs. Yes, it was the young, inexperienced Yugoslav team that was able to play on equal terms and sometimes even more fun with our masters.

Five games. Four of which, with teams obviously weaker than the USSR national team.
Not counting, second match against Indonesia in four games 5 goals scored and 2 missed
Two of the five games had to be played in extra time.
Replay with Indonesia

So what is it called? This, dear fans, It's called "Crap". And even if rotten tomatoes are thrown at me, I will not change my opinion.

What do you, dear readers, think about this tournament?

Briefly about interesting things

The heroes of the meeting with the Bulgarians (and therefore of the entire Olympics) were Nikolai Tishchenko and Eduard Streltsov. Tishchenko breaks his collarbone at the end of normal time, but continues to play (at that time no replacements were provided). And it was Nikolai who became the organizer of the winning goal, which Eduard Streltsov scores (read more about the difficult fate of this great football player...).
There were only 11 medals. The most offensive thing is that the players who made such a contribution to the overall victory were left without Olympic medals. Neither Tishchenko nor Streltsov played in the final. And according to the rules, only those who played in the final match received medals.

Dear readers, if you have something to tell about the Soviet Olympic champions, speak. Write in the comments or send interesting stories via the feedback form on the “Send a letter” page. The country must know its heroes.

That's all. See you soon.

In 1950, 199 thousand people gathered at the Maracana. Now this stadium seats only 79 thousand. But this is only official. I wouldn’t be surprised if more than 100 thousand gathered at the final match of the Olympics between Brazil and Germany. There weren't enough places for everyone. Spectators sat on each other's laps, a lot of people stood in the aisles, many climbed to the very top behind the last row along the entire perimeter of the stadium.

It's nothing like European stadiums. More like some kind of yellow anthill. From the very first minutes it was as if sugar had been thrown here, and now everyone was on their feet, everything was seething, making noise, exhaling in response to every attack, every pass. It is clear that for people “Maracana” is a sacred place. Children are brought here even before they can speak. Although I don’t understand at all how people with strollers get through. And it’s even more surprising how children manage to sleep in this noise.

The Brazil-Germany match at the Olympics is inextricably linked with the semi-final of the 2014 World Cup. Then the Germans won with a score of 7:1. Brazilians say that the scar on the heart will never heal. It is impossible to get rid of that shame, but a victory over the Germans, even at the level of youth teams, would be at least some kind of retribution for that defeat.

On the other hand, another defeat from the Germans would be a colossal blow to the proud Brazilians. They take everything related to football personally. It's personal for them. In 1950, after the defeat at the Maracanã in the World Cup final, a wave of suicides swept across the country. And now the situation could be even worse.

Apparently, this was in the minds of the Brazilian national team players, because they started very nervously. Goalkeeper Weverton I had to save the gate a couple of times. 10 minutes after the start of the match, the hosts took control of the game. In the 17th minute, Neymar went to take a free kick. Thousands of lights lit up throughout the stadium as people filmed what could become a historic moment. It didn’t work out right away, but the exact same free kick taken in the 27th minute turned into a goal. The country's main active footballer sent the ball right into the top corner - 1:0.

Some unimaginable celebration began. The blind received their sight, and girls suffering from infertility became pregnant right on the platform! All 100,000 people in the stadium jumped at once: the bend, the VIP section, journalists - basically everyone! This cannot be described in words. I've been to many stadiums, but I've never seen such unity among fans. Although in terms of noise support it was not particularly synchronized, the drum was missing. At one stand the song will begin, and at the other it is already ending. It all looked like the echo of some kind of spell. In the 35th minute, the enchanted ball seemed to be in the hosts' goal, but at the last moment it hit the crossbar and flew out of the field. The Brazilians made noise as joyfully as if their team had earned a penalty. In fact, it was more likely to grab your head.

In the 42nd minute, Neymar became so bold that he tried to make a caretillo. This is what they call a feint in Brazil, when the ball is pinched on the ground with the foot and heel, and then thrown over the head. But this technique did not bring any benefit - Neymar only lost the ball. But the audience was happy.

In the second half, the stands continued to press. This did not particularly affect the Germans, but the judge, more or less out of the blue, showed a yellow card to the German Selke. The attacker just laughed in bewilderment.

The Portuguese language is full of curse words: Caralho, Filho da puta and other expressions that I will not translate for censorship reasons. All these words were clearly heard in the 59th minute, when he had already scored Meyer. How he could have been left completely uncovered in the very center of the penalty area is a mystery. But after that the Brazilians did not give up. Vice versa. They rushed to attack with such courage that the Germans simply could not keep up with them. They had to either stop the game at the cost yellow card, or look at the ball flying centimeters from the bar. However, no matter how hard the Brazilians fought, they were unable to take the lead before the final whistle.

It would seem that the break was more to the benefit of the guests, because the Brazilians picked up a good pace and dominated the field, but the pause was delayed precisely because of the hosts. The Germans were already ready for the third half, but the Brazilians gathered in a circle and stubbornly discussed something. The referee even had to urge the Brazilians to resume the game.

Photo: Grigory Telingater, “Championship”

In extra time, both teams played attacking football. As if to show that no one needs penalties here. Felipe Anderson, who appeared after replacing Felipe, missed a fantastic chance. He went one on one with the goalkeeper, but shot right at him. This happened in the 107th minute. Then the guests began to stall for time. There was such a whistling noise that it hurt my ears. The Germans were booed every time they had the ball.

Photo: Grigory Telingater, “Championship”

The draw remained, and the teams went to take penalties. The first eight attempts were accurate, then Weverton took Petersen's shot. The final point was, of course, made by Neymar. At that moment my laptop almost flew off the podium. Even in the press box, many began to hug each other, not holding back their emotions.

“We are the champions” screamed 100,000 people. This was their evening.

The match Iraq - Denmark started the men's football tournament of the 2016 Olympics. Life explains why the world's most popular sport plays the role of the "ugly duckling" at the Games.

Football started early in Rio official opening The Olympics, but there is no excitement around it. Of course, the hosts of the tournament, the Brazilians, are destined for the role of headliner. But this is only because pentacampeons have never in history become winners of the Games. A very interesting statistical fact. That's all.

However, how many of you now remember the absence of Russian football players at the Games? That's it. The football tournament will remain somewhere in the background for most Olympic spectators.

However, first things first.

At the Olympics, teams made up of players no older than 23 years old compete. This rule was created by the IOC specifically to young football players received actual gaming practice high level. Moreover, since 1996, the regulations have been adjusted, and now each team has the right to enter three football players over 23 years of age for the Games.

During Soviet times, our Olympic team won gold twice. The first time this happened was in 1956, then Lev Yashin himself was in goal, the team included Igor Netto, Nikita Simonyan, Eduard Streltsov, Anatoly Ilyin and other legends. And the final match against Yugoslavia forever entered the golden fund of domestic sports.

There is another reason for nostalgia. At the Games in 1988, our team beat the “ball wizards” in the finals - the very same Brazilians who rule Olympic football this year. They also remember that success in Seoul. The team led by Anatoly Byshovets defeated the young but already stellar Bebeto, Romario, Taffarel with a score of 2:1... And experienced fans do not need to explain once again who Yuri Savichev is. Well, yes, the same one who scored the winning goal against Brazil.

Nowadays, players of the Russian youth team are fighting in vain to get into the Games. The guys, led by Nikolai Pisarev, tried to make it to Rio in 2014. That team included Denis Davydov, who now plays for Spartak-2, Pavel Mogilevets from Rostov, Serder Serderov, who left for the Bulgarian Slavia, railway worker Alexey Miranchuk...

To be included in the list of lucky ones, you had to reach the playoffs of the Youth European Championship 2016. Alas, our team took only second place in the qualifying group with a sufficient number of points, but an unsatisfactory difference in goals scored and goals conceded.

Our guys were sincerely sad and said that they really wanted to compete at the Olympics. It's possible. After all, young guys who have not yet been spoiled by huge contracts and realities Russian football, there must be a desire to play.

"What emotions? Failure of hopes"

But Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko then said that there was no need to be sad. So, maybe you really don’t really want to? After all, our team hasn’t been to the Games for 28 years...

- Of course, it’s a shame that we were once again left without the Games, but we must understand that in football the main tournament is the World Cup. It is followed in importance by the European Championship. Therefore, the world is not given of great importance qualifying for the Games or winning an Olympic football tournament where young players play, Vitaly Mutko said two years ago.

It turns out that the gold won in synchronized swimming or rowing, is worth more than an Olympic medal hanging around your neck Russian football player. Which is very sad, because the fans would be happy if our team played at the Olympics.

However, everyone really goes crazy only for two football tournaments - the World Cup and the European Championship. Everything else interests the audience to a lesser extent.

And FIFA doesn’t attach much importance to the Games. Although before 1930 everything was not like that. And it was Olympic football that was rated highest then.

But how much time has passed since then? 86 years...

The Olympic tournament that fans are looking forward to perhaps the most is football. 16 men's and 12 women's teams will take part in the competition. There will be so many games that seven football arenas will be used for the tournaments. Football games start 3 days before the official opening of the Olympics.

Football game participants

28 national football teams will come to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Qualification for the competition took place from the end of 2014 until almost mid-2016. Based on the results, all teams were selected and divided into groups.

Men's team participants are divided into the following groups

Group A:

Brazil;
Iraq;
Denmark.

Sweden;
Colombia;
Nigeria;
Japan.

Fiji;
The Republic of Korea;
Mexico;
Germany.

Honduras;
Algeria;
Portugal;
Argentina.

Women's groups

Brazil;
China;
Sweden;

Canada;
Australia;
Zimbabwe;
Germany.

New Zealand;
France;
Colombia.

The Russian national team was unable to qualify and did not qualify for the Olympics, neither men's nor women's team. Qualifying tournament It’s different for each region, usually it’s a continental championship.

The course of the competition will be as follows. First there will be a group round, with each team playing everyone else in their group. Then, from each group, the two teams that managed to score the most points advance to the quarterfinals. The playoff principle already applies there: the losers are eliminated, but can compete for 3rd place.

After the end of each tournament, the winning team will be awarded.

Football competition calendar

Olympic Games for those involved in football, will begin on August 3, they will be opened by women's teams, and will end on August 20, with the end of the men's tournament. The schedule is as follows.

Group round: August 3, 6, 9. Every day there are 6 matches.
Quarterfinals: August 12. 4 matches.
Semi-final: August 16. 2 games.
Final: August 19. Match for 3rd place, award ceremony for all medals.

Group round: August 4, 7, 10 (8 matches each day).
Quarterfinals: August 13. 4 matches.
Semi-final: August 17. 2 matches.

Football the tournament will take place in 5 cities, at 7 sites. Both finals will take place at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio.

Football fans wait until the Olympics begin to watch every game. This sport has not always been so popular, but it has been present at the Olympics since 1900. Since then, there has only been one Summer Olympics that did not feature football - 1932, Los Angeles. And here women's tournament was included in the program in 1996.

Football is played by two teams, each with 11 people, including the goalkeeper. Each team tries to score a goal. You can hit the ball with your feet, head, and sometimes with your body. It is prohibited to touch the ball with your hands; only the goalkeeper can do this if the ball is close to the goal.

If the end of the Summer Olympic Football Games is a draw, the teams are given overtime. If overtime is spent, but the winner is still undecided, then a penalty shootout is awarded.

Football is the most popular sport in the world. It was included in the program of all Olympic Games, with the exception of the first Olympics, held in 1896, as well as the 1932 Games. Since 1996, women's football competitions have been held at the Olympics.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Team Great Britain dominated the Olympic Games. This country won gold medals in 1900, 1908 and 1912. At the same time, although officially professional athletes was prohibited from competing at the Olympics, Great Britain was represented at the Games by the so-called amateur England team, a number of whose players played for professional clubs. Since 1960, Great Britain has not taken part in the Olympic Games. football tournament due to the fact that England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have founded their own football federations and operate as separate countries.

In 1932, football was excluded from the Olympic Games program. The official reason for this was the unpopularity of football in the United States (the 1932 Olympics took place in Los Angeles). However, it is believed that the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), which began hosting the World Cup in 1930, simply did not want the new competition to be “overshadowed” by the Olympics.

In 1936 football returned to Olympic program. However, as players in most countries became professionals, the level of football at the Olympic Games decreased, and the Olympics were won mainly by teams from Eastern Europe, where football was officially considered amateur.

Thus, in 1952, 1964 and 1968, the Hungarian team became the champion of the Olympic Games. In 1956 the Olympics were won by the USSR team, in 1960 by Yugoslavia, in 1972 by Poland, in 1976 by the GDR, and in 1980 by Czechoslovakia. From 1948 to 1980, 23 of the 27 sets of Olympic medals went to teams from Eastern Europe. The exceptions were Sweden (gold of the 1948 Games and bronze in 1952), Denmark (second medalist of the 1960 Olympics) and Japan (bronze medalist of the 1968 Games).

Since 1984 International Olympic Committee allowed professional football players to participate in the Olympics, however, by agreement with FIFA, permission applied only to those players from national teams of European and South American countries who had not previously taken part in the World Championships. In 1984 championship title went to the French team, and in 1988 in Seoul the USSR team led by Anatoly Byshovets won.

Modern rules for the participation of football players in the Olympic Games were introduced in 1992. Football players no older than 23 years of age are allowed to participate in the Olympics, and each team can enter three players whose age exceeds the specified limit.

The new format turned out to be convenient for football players from Africa. Spain's victory at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 was the last this moment the success of the European team at the Games. Nigeria won in 1996 and Cameroon in 2000. The current Olympic champion is the Argentina national team. In the final of the 2004 Athens Olympics, the Argentines beat Paraguay.

It is interesting that the Olympic football tournament has never been won by the Brazilian national team, which is a five-time world champion, and the Italians, who won the world championship four times, won Olympic gold only once - in 1936.

At the Beijing Olympics, 16 teams will compete for men's medals: four each from Europe and Asia, three from Africa, two each from North and South America, and one from Oceania. The teams are divided into four groups. The two best teams from each group will advance to the quarter finals and compete for awards using a playoff system.

The main contenders for victory in this year's Olympic football tournament are the national teams of Brazil and Argentina. The current Olympic champions include world football stars Lionel Messi from Barcelona, Sergio Aguero from Atlético Madrid and Juan Riquelme from Boca Juniors. The world football star, Milan newcomer Ronaldinho, will take part in the Brazilian national team at the Olympics.

Traditionally strong on last Olympics Africa will be represented by the teams of Cameroon, Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire. Among the European teams, it is worth noting the teams of Italy and the Netherlands.

The women's football tournament has been held since 1996. In 1996 and 2004, the championship title went to the US team, and in 2000 the Americans lost to the Norwegian team in the final. Along with these teams, the teams from Sweden, Brazil, China and Germany are really vying for the championship title in Beijing. It was the Germans who won last championship peace.

At the 2008 Olympics, 12 teams are taking part in the women's football tournament, divided into three groups. Two teams from each group, as well as two teams from third place, will advance to the quarter finals. After this, the fight for medals will follow a knockout system.

The Russian national team does not take part in the Olympic football tournament.