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Stuart Pearce thought London 2012 Olympics Team GB football team was a one-off

Image: Team GB men's football team at London 2012

Stuart Pearce admits he thought the Team GB men’s football team that featured at the London 2012 Olympics was a one-off.

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Stuart Pearce backs the FA’s proposal for Team GB to compete in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and says he’d love to be the man to manage them.

Pearce took charge of the men’s side in London and guided the team to the quarter-finals of the tournament where they were eliminated by eventual bronze medallists South Korea on penalties.

But on Monday a British Olympic Association official confirmed the Football Association has contacted them about their plans to enter a team at the Rio Olympic Games 2016.

The plan has been condemned by the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish FA’s but Pearce has urged them to speak to members of his 18-man London 2012 squad before dismissing the idea out of hand.

Asked if he thought London was a one-off, Pearce told The Morning View on Sky Sports News HQ: “Well we did, solely because of the fact that there is no active GB team and the only way to qualify if you don’t have a GB team is at a home Games where you have instant qualification anyway.

“All the Home Nations compete around the world and you have got to be in the top three in the U21 tournament to actually qualify for the Olympics. That’s the only way you can qualify. If you compete as England, Wales and the Home Nations you can’t qualify, so we did think that was the case at the time.

“But what a fantastic tournament with Britain getting the opportunity to put a football team in. Probably the best thing the home nations could do is go and ask the 18 players that went to the Olympics - 'Did they enjoy the experience? Did it blow their minds? And was it beneficial to them as individuals and footballers? To a man they would say it was fantastic'.

'Fantastic'

“I was given the job by my employers at the FA and basically, I don’t think I got the support from the other Home Nations.

“I don’t really think they wanted their players to go but the strength that footballers have in this day and age. You can’t tell an Aaron Ramsey or a Ryan Giggs to step away and not go to an Olympic Games.

“It was fantastic and the players themselves, the majority of them anyway, wanted to go and be part of it.”

The main bone of contention for Home Nations appears to be the fear that they may lose their status as international football nations but Pearce believes those fears are unfounded.

“I think that’s the one thing that they hold on to that creates that resistance,” he said. “For me we’ve been there in 2012, we put a team in and not for one moment did FIFA or UEFA turn round and say we are going to break the associations down. That won’t happen I don’t think.”

Pearce has also admitted he would jump at the chance to manage a Team GB side in Rio.

“100 per cent and I think whoever gets the opportunity to manage that team is in for an absolute treat,” he added

“They won’t believe how big the Olympic umbrella is. I have been to World Cups as a player and as a coach but this was quite incredible.”

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