TVC E, SPORTS – Argentine coach, Gerardo Martino has stated that Lionel Messi will not be part of the Nation’s Olympic Soccer Team to chase a second Olympic gold metal.
The football tournament which will hold in August at the Rio de Janeiro Games is likely to go ahead without the Barcelona star.
It is certainly set to be a busy summer for the Argentina man. As Martino noted, there is a lot of football to be played on the international stage when the domestic campaign finishes and Messi, as the Argentina captain, was expected to play a critical role in all of the tournaments. However, it seems as though Martino is wary of his star man suffering burnout.
Messi led Argentina to the 2014 World Cup final in Rio where they lost 1-0 to Germany after extra time.
As 16-team Copa America celebrate 100 years of the world’s oldest active international football tournament, the game will be played from June 3 to June 26 with 10-member nations of South America’s CONMEBOL and six from rival region CONCACAF taking part.
Argentina did not qualify for London 2012 after winning Olympic gold at the 2004 Athens Games.
