By: Jordan Raanan, My Sportsbook Soccer Editor

Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) - The world's attention now converges upon Athens, Greece, for the XXVII Olympiad.

Millions will tune in to the spectacular achievements and tremendous competitions that are about to unfold under our watchful eyes during the three-week extravaganza where nobodies can become heroes with one awe- inspiring performance.

Traditionally inconspicuous sports such as track and field, gymnastics, swimming and fencing are about to curiously assemble on center stage, while the world's most popular sport, soccer, oddly takes a back seat to these usually second-rate athletic events.

Since the concept of amateurism was conveniently discarded out the window by the International Olympic Committee more than a decade ago, the world's best athletes have engrossed our attention and provided us with a top-shelf product at the Olympics.

Not every sport though has completely acquiesced to this philosophy, as men's soccer remains an outcast among Olympic sports, remaining as irrelevant as most English transfer rumors. Fifa, soccer's world governing body, has assured us that many of the top players in the game do not compete in Athens. The real reason for this: the World Cup.

Fifa wants to preserve the importance of the World Cup, helping it maintain its status as the ultimate soccer event. And how could you blame them? If each country were allowed to put forth its top players for both the Olympics and the World Cup, the World Cup (also held every four years) would eventually lose its untouchable status.

That leaves us with Brazilian marksman Ronaldo out of the Athens Games. Same for French superstar Zinedine Zidane, Italian stalwart Francesco Totti, Portuguese hero Luis Figo, and most of the key members of Greece's Euro 2004 winning squad. This, however, is not totally by choice, but, instead, a product of the rules.

The rules for the world's most popular game deter the competition from being played at the highest level. Each team participating in this year's Olympics is restricted to just three players 23 years of age or older. That leaves mostly young, inexperienced performers to display their skills on such a grandiose stage.

In fact, there are basically 16 youth teams in Athens competing for medals. Only three of the top 10 countries and five of the top 20 in the Fifa world rankings have sent representatives to Greece. Brazil, the top ranked country after winning the 2002 World Cup and the recent Copa America competition, has most of its first-team stars scattered throughout the world preparing for their club seasons. This is a clear indication of the insignificant nature of soccer at the Olympic Games.

The sport is so meaningless at the Games that very few fans, if any, actually remember that Cameroon and Nigeria have captured the last two gold medals. Instead, memories of their triumphs fizzle into oblivion, much like the entire sport does at the Olympics.