Reinier set to come of age at CONMEBOL pre-Olympic tournament CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament Two Olympic places on offer

The eyes of the footballing world will be on South America from today, January 18, until February 9 as Colombia hosts the 13th edition of the CONMEBOL under-23 pre-Olympic tournament, which is returning after a 16-year absence.

The competition will get underway with two good matches on Saturday night: Ecuador vs Chile (00:00 CET) and Colombia vs Argentina (2:30 CET on Sunday).

All the focus of the tournament that decides which two countries will represent CONMEBOL at the Olympic Games in Tokyo - in 2008, 2012 and 2016 it was decided through the South American Under-20 Championship - is Brazil's Real Madrid-bound midfielder Reinier Jesus Carvalho.

Emissaries from Real Madrid have travelled to Colombia with the hope of making the signing of the young Flamengo prodigy official during the tournament.

It should be remembered that Reinier cannot sign the contract, by law, until he turns 18. He will do so tomorrow, January 19, and he will celebrate it by facing Peru that night at 2:30 CET in the Selecao's opening match.

Reinier, who Flamengo did not allow to play in Brazil's victorious campaign at the Under-17 World Cup, will have to make up for the absences of some European prospects, such as Rodrygo Goes, Vinicius Junior and Renan Lodi.

However, he will be accompanied by the likes of Atletico Madrid target Bruno Guimaraes, Corinthians' Pedrinho, Shakhtar Donetsk's Dodo, Sao Paulo's Antony, RB Leipzig's Matheus Cunha and Bayer Leverkusen's Paulinho.

Expectations are high for Brazil, who are looking to defend the gold medal Neymar led them to at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

Spain contributes seven players to the tournament... plus Reinier

Spanish teams have contributed seven players to the CONMEBOL pre-Olympic tournament, without including Reinier.

They are Valencia youngsters Jairo Quinteros (Bolivia) and Joaquin Blazquez (Argentina), Hercules midfielder Jaime Alvarado (Colombia), Girona defender Santiago Bueno (Uruguay), and the Atletico Madrid trio of Nehuen Perez (Argentina), Juan Manuel Sanabria (Uruguay) and Josua Mejias (Venezeula).