Remember when Team Great Britains Steph Houghton scored a goal to beat Brazil 1-0 at Wembley Stadium during the 2012 Olympics, in front of the largest crowd for a womens international match in Britain? Or when England battled its way to a bronze medal in the 2015 Womens World Cup? Are you looking forward to seeing the best of British womens soccer in Rio this summer?Well, youll be disappointed. Because the 2012 Team GB was a one-off.In fact, none of the soccer teams from the four countries in the U.K. -- England, Scotland and Wales (which make up Great Britain), and Northern Ireland -- will be competing at the Games this summer. And the reason is more complicated than just qualifying or not qualifying.Previously, Team GB soccer was composed of athletes from the U.K. (the so-called home nations), all of which have their own football associations (FA). Each association has its own voting rights at the international level, a degree of independence thats closely guarded by all of the associations. They fear losing their seats at the top tables if they joined forces for any competition -- that if they compete as Team GB once, they will be made to compete as Team GB in every single tournament.For the London Olympic Games in 2012, the associations reached a compromise. As the Games host nation, the U.K. was eligible to enter a soccer team by right, instead of by qualification. The English Football Association allowed a womens soccer team to compete under the GB banner and put the then-England manager Hope Powell in charge. Officially, players from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were also eligible for selection to this super team.In practice, it was a touch more complicated. Powell called up a squad that was almost entirely English -- players with whom she was already familiar. She added into the mix Ifeoma Dieke, a Scotland defender, and Kim Little, a then-22-year-old Scottish player who had been lighting up the Arsenal midfield.In a phone interview, Little said she knew that people within the Scottish FA were not happy about their players joining the Team GB squad. Still, she said she never considered turning down the call-up from Powell, adding that playing in the Olympic Games would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.In the 2012 Olympics, the team made it out of group play before losing 0-2 in the quarterfinals. Afterward, Powell talked about how she wanted the team to continue, and a few months later, the English FA announced that it would be very happy to carry on coordinating a Team GB for future Games.Their counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were not so keen, and FIFA declared that all four nations would have to agree to allow the Team GB experiment to continue.They didnt.So despite the fact that England technically qualified for the 2016 Olympics after its third-place finish at the Womens World Cup, there will be no British representation on the Brazilian pitches in Rio. (The English wanted to compete as Team GB, but without the aforementioned agreement by the three other nations, FIFA said no.)It is disappointing, but I think we knew that four years ago was going to be a one-off, Rachel Yankey, the Arsenal, England and 2012 Team GB winger, said in a phone interview. She said the squad then had secretly hoped that it could sway the intransigent governing bodies by impressing them with their performances, and they felt extremely sad that they had not managed that.We had the opportunity four years ago. We went out there, we played well, we proved to a lot of people that we deserved to be on that stage and possibly should have done better, but this ones out of our control, she said. We cant be disappointed that were not there, because theres not a lot, as players, that we can do about that.Gemma Fay, the Scotland captain who has led her country to the brink of Euro 2017 qualification, said shes in favor of a Team GB soccer roster, but not at the cost of losing each home nations unique identity.I think first and foremost everybody wants to represent their home nation -- in the U.K., thats Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England, she said in a phone interview. With Team GB, it was quite a unique thing, once in a lifetime. I understand why it was in the last Olympics, we accepted a home place. I can understand also not to put it in [Rio].For other sports, Team GB operates in different ways. Some sports are governed by a British association, so for Olympic competitions such as swimming, gymnastics, golf, etc., there will be a Team GB participating in Rio. And in rugby sevens, for example, if one of the home nations qualifies for the Olympics, that team represents Team GB and has the opportunity to call up other eligible players.Fay said that model could cause problems within home camps.If Im an England player, and I was in that squad who qualified for a place in that GB team, and then all of a sudden Im potentially not in that squad because a player from another nation comes in that wasnt there, that didnt secure that place, does that create an atmosphere, does that create an issue? Fay said. Is it fair to let an England team qualify, but then not let that entire England team represent at a Team GB level?Ciara Sherwood, whos from Northern Ireland but plays club for the Crystal Palace Ladies in England, said having a Team GB womens soccer squad would improve domestic soccer immeasurably, giving players the chance to work with different coaches and train with full-time schedules.It would help to continue to raise the image of the game, she said. It wouldve helped to create role models and idols, but also helped to develop our game -- all competitive games and tournaments result in either winning games or learning on how to improve, what to do next, what couldve been done better.Fay says she agrees that the sport would benefit, but she says its up to the football associations to come up with a plan, leaving the players to choose whether they want to represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland.From a completely objective perspective, I think that any sport that goes into the Olympics raises the profile of that sport and that country -- thats proven, she says. [At the] home Games, there was the feel-good factor around sport in general, and womens football absolutely took advantage of that, and rightly so.But when the U.S. womens national team aims to defend its gold medal in Rio, the British stars will be watching it all on television.If [Team GB] was to happen, if there was a Scottish player who had the opportunity, I think they should take it, same as Welsh, same as English, Fay said. Its an individual opportunity that the individual has earned, and I think they have the right to choose to represent the U.K. if they wish. Air Jordan Ireland Sale . One game after a miserable showing in Oklahoma City, Gay tied a career high with 41 points and the Sacramento Kings cruised to a 114-97 victory at the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Wholesale Air Jordan . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. http://www.airjordanireland.com/ . Haas said he "felt a lot of pain" in his right shoulder when he slammed his racket to the ground in frustration after losing his serve at 3-3 in the first set. Air Jordan Outlet Ireland . 10 VCU 85-67 on Thursday night at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The Seminoles (4-0) have scored at least 80 points in each of their games. Cheap Air Jordan Sale . LUCIE, Fla.WASHINGTON -- Even before Ryan Harrison broke his racket by spiking it on the Citi Open court or screamed "Oh, my God!" in exasperation, top-seeded Juan Martin del Potro was feeling pretty good about the way things were going Thursday. And they kept improving for the 2009 U.S. Open champion. Back in action after nearly a month off, del Potro won twice in a span of about 7 1/2 hours to reach the Citi Open quarterfinals. Del Potro started by winning a rain-postponed match against 107th-ranked American Harrison 6-1, 7-5, then returned to the court under the lights at night to defeat 14th-seeded Bernard Tomic of Australia 6-3, 6-3. Each lasted about 70 minutes. "Really good day," del Potro said, smiling as he leaned back in his chair and stretched out his legs. "The match against Tomic was a little better than the first one." Del Potro, who received a first-round bye, is 11-1 at the hard-court tournament in Washington, where he won titles in 2008 and 2009. The Argentine, No. 7 in the ATP rankings, hadnt competed since July 5, when he was eliminated in five sets by No. 1 Novak Djokovic in 4 hours, 43 minutes, the longest semifinal in Wimbledon history. "I was training hard before coming here," said del Potro, who will face No. 7-seeded Kevin Anderson, also a winner twice Thursday. Anderson eliminated James Duckworth 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, then beat Mardy Fish of the United States 7-6 (2), 6-1. Before that match finished, Fishs withdrawal from next weeks tournament in Montreal was announced; the event said he pulled out for personal reasons. "Its hard for me, right now, to come out and just play every single week," said Fish, who has missed time the past two seasons while dealing with a heart condition. "I still know I have a long ways to go to get back to where Id like to be and where I was, maybe, 12 months ago," he added. The other mens quarterfinals are No. 8 John Isner against No. 16 Marcos Baghdatis, No. 3 Tommy Haas against No. 11 Grigor Dimitrov, and Marinko Matosevic against Dmitry Tursunov. Matosevic beat No. 4 Milos Raonic of Canada 7-5, 7-6 (7); Baghdatis surprised No. 2 Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-1, 6-2; the 35-year-old Haas finished off a second-round match suspended overnight in the third set, then also won Thursdays last match, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 against No. 13 Ivan Dodig, wrapping it up after midnight. Del Potro said his left knee felt fine; he wasnt wearing any sort of wrap the way he did at the All England Club afterr hyperextending it on a fall during a match.dddddddddddd "You never know" how the knee will hold up, said del Potros coach, Franco Davin. "For now, its OK." Harrison was ranked inside the top 50 last season and is widely seen as the next top American male player. "He has good potential. He serves well. He plays well on hard courts. But sometimes he looks young," said del Potro, who was a couple of weeks shy of his 21st birthday when he won the U.S. Open. "Hes still 21. He needs to learn a few things to become a better player in the future." Harrison trailed 4-0 after only 11 minutes. Both men hit serves at the considerable speed of 130 mph, but the difference was that once the ball was in play, del Potros groundstrokes were far more consistent. "Sometimes you go out there and for whatever reason, its not feeling as well as you want it to," said Harrison, 0-18 against top-10 players. "The best guys, whenever they see someones off, they just press you, and they just make you feel like youre under duress all the time." After pushing a forehand long to get broken at 3-0, Harrison smashed his equipment, earning a warning from the chair umpire for racket abuse. During a particularly rough stretch from late in the first set to early in the second, Harrison dropped 13 consecutive points, a drought that ended right after he dumped a backhand in the net, looked to the sky and yelled. From there, he played evenly against del Potro, until getting broken in the last game. Del Potro thinks Harrisons histrionics help foes. "Its easier for us, because we ... (see) our opponent really, really low," del Potro said. Three other American men joined Harrison on the way out: No. 6-seeded Sam Querrey, Jack Sock and Tim Smyczek. In womens action, the only seeded player to lose was No. 8 Madison Keys of the United States, who failed to convert two match points and bowed out against Monica Niculescu 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (6). The womens quarterfinals are No. 1-seeded Angelique Kerber vs. No. 7 Magdalena Rybarikova, No. 3 Ekaterina Makarova vs. Niculescu, No. 4 Alize Cornet vs. Sorana Cirstea, and Andrea Petkovic vs. Paula Ormaechea. The most unusual ending to a match Thursday came when Olga Puchkova of Russia was defaulted by the WTA supervisor after hitting a line judge in the knee with a ball between points. Trailing Ormaechea 3-6, 6-3, 4-1, Puchkova was forced to forfeit even though she said it was an accident. ' ' '