Messi not in Argentina’s Paris Olympics squad, Álvarez and Otamendi selected for Games
- Coach Javier Mascherano includes four World Cup winners in squad, with players joining team after Copa America ends
Lionel Messi won’t be in Argentina’s squad at the Olympics starting later this month in Paris.
Coach Javier Mascherano included four World Cup winners in the squad, including striker Julián Álvarez and defender Nicolás Otamendi.
The 37-year-old Messi, who has struggled with injuries this year, is now playing at the Copa America, aiming to defend the continental title he won in 2021. That victory served as a springboard for Argentina to lift the World Cup in 2022.
Messi won the gold medal at Beijing in 2008 in his only Olympic campaign.
The Olympic men’s football tournament is for under-23 teams, but three older players are allowed on each squad.
Mascherano, who won the Olympic gold medal as a player in 2004 and 2008, will add goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli, Otamendi and Álvarez to his squad after the Copa America is finished.
