By: Leo Hewitt-Provost
We are just a few days away from the start of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games taking place in Paris, exactly 100 years after the last games were hosted in the French capital city. This edition will be seen as monumental for its host, its people and those in millions who travelled to experience what could be their very first Olympic Games. There will be more than 10,000 athletes competing from 200 countries, and many will seek glory by earning gold, silver and bronze medals in 30+ categories. In football, France, are deemed favorites to win gold, one glance at the pool of players selected tells that story, with established players such as Alexandre Lacazette, Jean-Philippe Mateta linking up with young talents coming through the ranks such as Rayan Cherki, Castello Lukeba, Manu Koné, Loic Badé and many more. But one name should be on everyone’s radar, and his name is Michael Olise.
The young prodigy, who was born in Hammersmith in West London, whose Mum is French-Algerian and Father Nigerian, could have represented four different nations in his footballing career, but seemed to have made a decisive choice a few weeks ago when head coach Thierry Henry called him up to be in his squad; a squad admittedly weakened due to the conflict between the EUROS and the Games.
Michael Olise spent most of his young career in London, but it was in South London’s very own Crystal Palace that he was made, and they are currently on their longest continuous run in the Premier League, going into their 12th season when the new campaign begins next month, and there’s a good reason behind their consistent finish year after year: good investments, and even better at producing talent they can sell on for a large profit. Michael Olise is the perfect example of that, after a lot of interest coming from some of the best sides in the Premier League, Crystal Palace decided to go against selling their prized asset to their competitors and instead sold the 22-year-old French-English talent to Bayern Munich, who will play under Vincent Kompany once the Olympic Games are wrapped.
But pre-season with his newly founded club will have to wait for Michael Olise, who was called up to France’s national squad by Thierry Henry, appointed head coach for the Olympic Games. France had a disappointing EUROS in Germany, with main star Kylian Mbappe and his troops never able to convince anyone that the trophy was theirs for the taking; all hopes for some success this summer now in the Hexagon rests on Thierry Henry and his team to get the gold medal in Paris. And that task is definitely doable. A lot of teams competing in the Olympic Games simply don’t have enough talent or the ultimate team to defeat France this summer, and that’s a fact.
Olise is a special player, one that you can’t help but admire watching, in an era where football has become somewhat lethargic where one prioritizes tactical play in order to win games, the young forward is a very exciting player to watch, with a lot of flair and no real fear to bring his own playstyle. The goal he scored against the Dominican Republic in a friendly proves that he’s young and fearless, like a diamond that needs to be cut and polished. Explosiveness, speed, agility and confidence are all traits that represent the player in Michael Olise; he will inevitably be a key player for his national team. Perhaps it’s time for France to redeem themselves, in front of their home crowd. No pressure Michael.
The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games will be on Friday the 26th of July, with France playing the United States of America one day later.