Olympics: Argentina leaves “the door open” to Lionel Messi for the Olympic tournament

After Argentina qualified on Sunday, Javier Mascherano announced that he was going to invite Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria.

Since Argentina won its ticket to the Olympic Games tournament on Sunday, thanks to its success against Brazil (1-0) in Caracas, the question of the team that will be fielded next summer in Paris has arisen. At the Games, the selections of players under 23 may be reinforced by three elements exceeding this age limit. And, as in France with Kylian Mbappé, questions revolve on the Argentinian side around the presence of Lionel Messi, already Olympic champion in 2008 in Beijing.

Messi and Di Maria back in Paris?

After qualification, Espoirs coach Javier Mascherano once again appealed to the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner. “Everyone knows my relationship with Leo. […] He has the door open to join us.”, slipped Messi’s former teammate in the selection and at FC Barcelona. The latter also hopes to also convince Angel Di Maria. “They have the right to decide what they want, but obviously we will try to invite them and we will see. I have an obligation to invite them”he said again.

Before seeing the two players return to Paris, where they played under the colors of PSG, there remain several obstacles to overcome. You will first need to know if the challenge interests them. Like Mbappé with the Euro, they will also have to manage a tight schedule. Messi and Di Maria could play in the Copa America this summer. However, if they go all the way to the final, it will take place on July 14, only ten days before the start of the Olympic tournament, on the 24th in Marseille. Finally, their respective clubs will have to release them. As the Olympics take place outside the FIFA calendar, they are not obliged to do so.