Pearce was relaxed about the prospect of taking England to Ukraine and Poland this summer at Wembley on Tuesday (April 24), after the draw was made for the Olympic men's and women's tournaments.

England's Football Association have yet to choose a successor to Fabio Capello for Euro 2012, with Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp the man likely to be chosen, but failing that Pearce has offered to take temporary charge this summer.

Talking to the BBC, Pearce reiterated this week: "if [I am] needed by the Football Association to take the team to the Euros, all the plan is in place for that.

"I am more than happy to take both tournaments this summer, great experience for me and I feel more than capable of doing both jobs."

He also indicated the selection would take place by May 10, and that he may, therefore, be the one deciding who goes to the European Championships.

"I've no idea whether I'll be selecting it but I would fully expect – whether it be me or it be the next man – he'll be  selecting a squad around that sort of time...the players need to know."

Speaking to insidethegames, Hunt was relaxed about that prospect, even though it would mean that Pearce would possibly return to continue Olympic preparations just three weeks before the start of the tournament in July.


Asked if it was a concern that Pearce could be distracted in the weeks before the Olympics, Hunt told insidethegames: "In that scenario, no not at all.

"We have plans in place for the football at the Games, and no I have no concern at all.

"Whoever is selected for England to manage the team at the Euros is something for the FA and not something I can comment on.

"If Stuart was that individual, I have no concerns whatsoever."

Regarding the selection of the Team GB squad for London 2012, Hunt insisted that there was no pressure to select David Beckham or for Pearce to pick a certain number of players from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The selection of players from around the home nations has been a controversial issue as the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish Football Associations object to their players taking part in Team GB, fearing it will compromise their independence as football nations.

Though the men's football tournament is for players under 23 years old, there are three over age exceptions allowed, and with Beckham's chances of competing for the senior England team seemingly gone, he has always said he would love to play in the Olympics.

"First off, we got to a point where every player who can represent GB and Northern Ireland had the opportunity to be selected...and I am so pleased that we got that done," said Hunt.


"The second [thing] is allowing the manager, Stuart, to absolutely select athletes on merit and merit alone.

"Merit comes in many different ways.

Hunt did though add that experience and leadership skills, which Beckham would certainly bring, could be a key consideration for Pearce, when he said: "It could be about technical performance, form and there are other attributes like leadership or experience that come into it, and I am absolutely certain Stuart will select the best combination of under 23 and over 23 players.

"It was an interesting debate at the press conference [at Wembley] about would there be a quota from different federations.

"I come back to the point that once every player has the opportunity to be selected we do not set quotas for home nation selection for any other sport.

"Why would it be a consideration in football?

"If I said to Dave Brailsford [GB Cycling's performance director] that we had to had a quota for track cycling or indeed the rowing eight if you said you had to have a proportional split among home nations it would be ludicrous.

"We want the best players competing for Team GB to get the best possible outcome so this nation can be truly truly proud."

To assist with the preparations, Team GB have a men's match lined up against Brazil (pictured above) and the women's team, coached by Hope Powell (first image, right), take on World Cup semi finalists Sweden, at the Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough on July 20.


The double header will be the only chance to see Team GB in action before the Games begin, and, therefore, serves a particularly important purpose, given that unlike their rivals, the British teams will have never played together previously.

For the men, it will be the first time a British team has competed since a qualifying game against Bulgaria in 1971 for the Munich Olympics, while the women have never competed as a British side.

Britain have won two Olympic gold medals, and will hope to add a third 100 years since their last success, in Stockholm in 1912 (Britain v Denmark final pictured above).

Brazil have never won the gold and are desperate for success this summer.

"Sweden are a strong side and we want that challenge to be ready for 25 July when the Olympics begins for us," said Powell.

"It is a huge opportunity, both in this country and worldwide, to showcase women's football to a bigger audience and grow the game."

"In world football they don't come much bigger than Brazil and it should be a terrific occasion for us going into our first match," added Pearce.

"Middlesbrough recently hosted an under-21 game and had a tremendous crowd, and I think particularly with the Brazilian connections on Teesside it will be a terrific turnout again come July."

The game is also the first double header with the men's and women's teams since the former faced Chile and the latter Sweden at Wembley in 1989.

"Both Sweden and Brazil will present top opposition and will provide Stuart and Hope with an opportunity to test their squads against two of the strongest teams in the Olympic competition," added Hunt.

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