Roberto Firmino Misses out on Olympics for Brazil

The Rio Olympics will be a huge opportunity for all the Brazilian players taking part on home soil. Incredibly, neither the men's or women's teams have won a gold medal for Brazil. While the women's tournament only started in 1996 at Atlanta, the Brazilian men's team have failed to secure gold in 12 tournaments. To date, the Olympics is the only international tournament organised by FIFA that has eluded Brazil.

Unfortunately for Roberto Firmino, he will not be one of the three over-23 players to take part in the three-week tournament. The 24-year-old hasn't been called up for his country's bid to finally win gold at the thirteenth attempt. Neymar will play at the tournament after being left out of the Copa América squad in order to be as fresh as possible for Rio 2016. The Barcelona superstar will take one of the over-23 berths, leaving two slots available.

Dunga won't manage the Olympics side according to custom after being sacked as national team manager, so under-20 coach Rogerio Micale will be tasked with making history. Corinthians coach Tite will succeed Dunga as national team manager after a disastrous Copa América.

For Liverpool, however, having a key player to be part of the entire pre-season preparations ahead of a season without European competition is good news. Firmino won't miss the start of the season, and with a number of top sides to face in the opening handful of games, Merseyside's finest would be far better off having the best players in the squad ready for action.

The five overage players called up to the preliminary squad are Neymar, Willian, Douglas Costa, Thiago Silva, and Fernando Prass. Only three can be named to the final Brazil Olympics squad.