Argentina under-23 coach Javier Mascherano confirmed he has spoken with Lionel Messi over appearing at the Paris Olympics this summer, but admitted it is “not an easy situation.”
Club teams are not obligated to release players to compete in the Olympics, which features U23 rosters with three overage players, and Inter Miami star Messi is also expected to lead Argentina’s defence of their Copa América title earlier in the summer.
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“I spoke with Leo and we agreed to keep talking,” Mascherano, a former teammate of Messi, told TyC Sports in an interview published Tuesday. “He has just started the season with Inter Miami and we still have some time until the Olympic Games. And we have to consider he also has the Copa América ahead this summer. It is not an easy situation.
“We have to see if he really has the energy to be there [in Paris]. It is not our intention to bother him or pressure him. We made him an invitation in advance and we gave him all the facts he needs to think about it and to talk with his club. It is not easy for him, either, to manage it with Inter Miami and the MLS and to be absent for a while. He will decide at the right time”
