Argentina has already qualified for the next Olympic Games, which will be held this year in Paris.; The Albiceleste team achieved qualification on the last date of the Pre-Olympic Tournament held in Venezuela, in a match where the Under 23 players defeated Brazil.
Javier Mascherano, the technical director, had the firm mission of achieving classification and he fulfilled the tasknow the objective is to seek to win the gold medal in Paris and to do so the coach will have to put together a top-level squad and that is precisely why he will seek to do everything possible to sign the captain of the Argentine national team, Lionel Messi. .
Messi is the main objective
In a recent interview given to the TyC Sports cameras, The Sub 23 coach announced that he formally invited Lionel Messi to join the Argentine delegation to compete in the upcoming Olympic Games.
“Leo is clear that age also applies to him. Although he is Messi, he has to manage the loads, because he has a very active year. We don’t want to bother him, we simply extended an invitation to him to join us at the Olympic Games. We believed that we had to make him this invitation, so that he has the necessary time to think about it and analyze it, because he would have to leave his club,” he commented.
‘Dibu’ Martínez is the next in the spotlight
Emiliano ‘El Dibu’ Martínez is the other target to be signed for the Olympic event by Mascherano, and this could be a possibility much more real, since the goalkeeper himself who lives at Aston Villa in the Premier League, previously stated that he loves the idea of being able to defend the national colors in Paris.
“How can we not take into account Dibu Martínez? We have the advantage of having the world champion team. There are many players who provide hierarchy. El Dibu is among the best archers in the world. We always take into account his desire, but then we have to bring that desire to reality; because the clubs have the decision to tip the balance yes or no. We still do not have information from the coach of the senior team in this regard. It is not easy to name names, because there is a lack of certainty. I also like to respect the Under 23 boys who have achieved classification and those who have been part of the process,” he clarified.
“There are many cases of boys who are in Europe, who are on loan to their clubs and we don’t know if we will be able to count on them.. It is very premature to go talk to the clubs, because they still cannot commit to giving them to us. We hope to have many kids on the radar and if necessary we will make the list,” he argued.
Ángel Di María will not be part of the team
“There are some positions where we have more needs than others. There is a clear reality, because we have to know which players to count on. In these next few weeks we will have friendlies in Mexico, which will give us the chance to see guys we haven’t seen before. “That will allow us to open the range.”
Unfortunately for Argentine fans, The one who until now ‘got off the boat’ heading to Paris was ‘El Fideo’, Ángel Di María: “Ángel (Di María) appreciated the call, but he has no intention of going to Paris. We have ruled him out, he wants to make room for the younger ones,” he explained.
Messi and Martínez will have to decide between the Olympic Games or the Copa América
“The priority is the Senior Team. We are always in contact with Scaloni, although we have made this call together. As the U23 coaching staff, we adapt to the needs of what Gringo chooses for the team.”
“We always talk to Scaloni. Many times I tell the players that I am following and ask them what they think.. Our idea is to make your work easier. In the same way we work with Diego Placente and Pablo Aimar. A clear example was what happened with Claudio Echeverri, who went from the Sub 17 to the Pre-Olympic. We try to work together, because the objective is that everything we do in the lower leagues is based on the senior team,” concluded the former Barcelona Football Club player coach.
New figures for the future albiceleste
The truth is that the present and future of the national team of Argentina has great top-level players who are making a lot of noise in their respective clubs.and these are some of the most important names: Valentín Barco, Federico Redondo, Julián Malatini, Thiago Almada, Claudio Echeverri and Pablo Solari.
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