Whilst a certain ex-player was picking up a debut runners up medal, Douglas Luiz was busy winning a Gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic games.
Whilst Olympic football is a bit of a non-starter in the UK due to the complications of fielding a GB or separate national teams, try telling that to now nine time medallists Brazil.
It took the Brazilians 120 minutes to overcome Spain, with Everton’s Richarlison missing a penalty and also hitting the crossbar in the process. Malcom applied the winning finish in extra time, ensuring they edged the Spanish 2-1 to win consecutive Gold medals.
In what now seems like a never ending footballing schedule, this represented the eleventh unbroken month of football for many appearing. It was also their sixth game in just seventeen days.
Villa’s midfielder Luiz played the entire 120 minutes and his medal may go some way to failing to overcome Emi Martinez’s Argentina in the Copa America last month. At the very least the club have both continental and Olympic Champions amongst the ranks, which is never a bad thing.
Whilst obviously a fantastic success for Luiz and Brazil, it remains to be seen what the impact this will have upon his involvement at Villa. With the Premier League season a matter of days away, Luiz will certainly need time to recuperate ahead of what we hope to be a progressive third campaign since promotion to the top flight.