Dutch Olympic Team coach Foppe de Haan has named his 18 man Beijing roster, including his three over-23 players.

Holland squad:

Piet Velthuizen (Vitesse Arnhem), Kenneth Vermeer (Ajax); Kew Jaliens (29 years old - AZ Alkmaar), Calvin Jong-A-Pin (Heerenveen), Luijckx (AZ Alkmaar), Dirk Marcellis (PSV Eindhoven), Erik Pieters (PSV Eindhoven), Gianni Zuiverloon (West Bromwich Albion); Otman Bakkal (PSV Eindhoven), Urby Emanuelson (Ajax), Jonathan De Guzman (Feyenoord), Hedwiges Maduro (Valencia), Evander Sno (Celtic); Roy Beerens (Heerenveen), Ryan Babel (Liverpool), Royston Drenthe (Real Madrid), Roy Makaay (33 years old - Feyenoord), Gerald Sibon (34 years old - Heerenveen)

Surprisingly no Ibrahim Affellay (PSV), no Maceo Ritgers (the top scorer of the 2007 European U-21 Championships with 4 goals that Holland won to Qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics) who’s still having hamstring troubles and no Ismail Aissati (PSV).

Still not impressed with Foppe’s over-age decisions.  Too much talent in that country to bring a 33 and 34 year old to lead your attack.

I would have loved to have seen Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, but until FIFA decides to make the Olympics a mandated tournament, then we’re all wasting our time since coaches can’t have the choices they truly want because of big club’s hesitations to let players leave during Champions League and UEFA Cup Qualifications.

image via 1000goals

DOUBLE UPDATE - Barcelona has reportedly denied Ronaldinho his chance to represent Brazil at the 20008 Beijing Olympics.

I’m just starting to wonder if Dunga had spoken to any of the clubs about pre-season, qualifiers or possible transfers that he’s pulling players from.

UPDATE - Werder Bremen and Schalke 04 have denied both Diego and Rafinha their Olympic Team release, much to the dismay of Brazil Head Coach Dunga.

While the Bundesliga sides do not have to allow the release of their players (much like Bayern Munich’s refusal to release Martin Demichelis, Lucio and Mark van Bommel to represent their countries in Beijing), many thought that both players would be allowed to go.

“It’s clear that if we don’t release Diego, we won’t face any sanctions” Bremen general manager Klaus Allofs said.

No word who will be Dunga’s replacements, but this is pretty weak in my opinion. I know that players are always at risk for injury when they’re away with their National Teams and the clubs pay their salaries, but to take away the opportunity to play for their countries at the Olympics is an incredible opportunity, much the same way it was for each player that played in the 2008 European Championships.

The only difference is that the Euro’s were FIFA sanctioned and the Olympics (I know, I know, it’s only a glorified Under 23 tournament) isn’t. I wonder though if Germany could qualify for the Olympics if their perspective would change quickly?

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Adidas has officially opened their largest concept store worldwide in Beijing at midnight on July 5th.

The store will be a fusion of Adidas’ Sports Performance and Sport Style Division that includes the Original and Y-3 branding.

The Brand Center will be located in China’s newest Sanlitun Village Shopping Center, only minutes away from the Workers’ Stadium, one of the venues for the Olympic Football Tournament.

If you do get the opportunity to check out the Olympics first hand, you can check in and create your own “Original” clothing as well as kicks that fit your style.

images via adiNews

Nike is prepping for the Olympics in Beijing on a whole nother level. With China being the biggest emerging market, Nike is attempting to cement themselves in China as the leader. Videos such as these where they project some of China’s best athletes onto the the side of the new government CCTV building are definitely a step in the right direction in terms of getting in the hearts and minds of locals. They also picked an amazingly look cool looking building which was designed by Dutch superstar architect Ron Koolhaas.

UPDATE -  Looks like there might be a little Radiation leak caused by the Earthquake.

This quake was reported to be a 7.8 by major news agencies. What would happen if the Olympics were taking place and an earthquake of this magnitude hit?

There’s always possibilities for natural disasters to happen, but with the Summer Olympics only months away and China’s questionable dealings with the Human Rights fall out and protests, you’d think it couldn’t get any worse.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…with the Olympics taking place in Beijing this summer, you are going to see every brand imaginable doing products with Chinese colors, Chinese celebrities, artists, etc. Above is adidas’ latest collaboration…they partnered with Chinese pianist Lang Lang to do his take on one of the best sneakers of all time, the Gazelle.  I have to say I personally think Lang Lang crushed these. The black and gold colorway, the design hit on the heel and using the Gazelle as the canvas comes off dope.  Apparently these are coming out in June and will cost around $85.

Source Hypebest

To commemorate the upcoming Olympics in Beijing Nike is releasing the Bejing 2008 Pack that consists of the Air Force 2 Low and and the Air Flight 89’s. Both come in the white, black and green colorway with added touches of gold. You can purchase these Nike’s here. Look out for lots of Olympic inspired releases coming out in thenext couple of months. In fact, keep an eye out for a limited edition Bumpy Pitch Olympic t-shirt that we are working with. These shirts will represent our men’s and women’s teams heading to Beijing and will be a collaboration with a couple well known people. More on that to come…

[Image via Hypebest]

Natasha Kai had two more goals and an assist (to Heather O’Reilly) to her name as the US Women qualified for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing by beating Costa Rica 3-nil in the Tournaments Semi-Final match.

The US will now face Canada (who beat Mexico 1-nil for their ticket to China) in the 2008 Olympic Qualifying Tournament Final on Saturday at 9:30 pm ET.

– GAME REPORT –

Match-up: USA vs. Costa Rica
Competition: 2008 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Semifinal
Venue: Estadio Olimpico Benito Juarez; Juarez, Mexico
Date: April 9, 2008; Kickoff – 5:00 p.m. MT
Attendance: 22,280 (Sell-Out)
Weather: Windy – 73 degrees

Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 0 3 3
CRC 0 0 0

USA – Natasha Kai (Tobin Heath) 57th minute.
USA – Heather O’Reilly (Natasha Kai) 72.
USA – Natasha Kai (Angela Hucles) 89.

Lineups:
USA: 18-Hope Solo; 14-Stephanie Cox, 3-Christie Rampone – Capt., 4-Cat Whitehill, 17-Lori Chalupny; 9-Heather O’Reilly (16-Angela Hucles, 83), 7-Shannon Boxx, 11-Carli Lloyd, 5-Lindsay Tarpley (13-Tobin Heath, 46); 6-Natasha Kai, 20-Abby Wambach (19-Amy Rodriguez, 74).
Subs not used: 2-Rachel Buehler, 8-Lauren Cheney, 12-Leslie Osborne, 24-Nicole Barnhart.
Not Eligible: 10-Kacey White, 15-Kate Markgraf.
Head Coach: Pia Sundhage

Image via CNN