Inter Miami's Messi faces Olympics, Copa América dilemma - ESPN

As soon as the final whistle blew the Sunday before last, and Argentina's U23 side had beaten Brazil, the speculation started to spike. The win meant that Argentina had qualified for the Paris Olympics. Come the tournament, the U23 side can be bolstered by the presence of three over-age players.

Will Lionel Messi be among them?

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The idea of Messi playing the Olympics had been floated months before the qualification tournament had even taken place. The coach of Argentina's U23 side is Javier Mascherano, a close friend of Messi after the time they spent together at Barcelona and on the national team. The two of them even won the gold medal together in Beijing back in 2008.

Might they be in harness once more, Mascherano in the early stages of his coaching career, Messi coming toward the end of his playing days?

The coach aired the idea of Messi going to the Olympics last October. It was a predictable question last Sunday in the postmatch news conference, and Mascherano expanded on the theme in an interview with TyC Sports. He revealed that Messi had sent a message congratulating him and the squad on achieving their objective. Mascherano added another veteran, Ángel Di María, into the mix and said that «as coach, I have the obligation to invite them to play the Olympics. But we understand that they have other commitments. It is not so easy.»

He is referring to the Copa América, which will take place in the USA shortly before the world's sporting attention switches to Paris. It is not normal for a player to take part in both the Copa and the Olympics. But it is not impossible.

Last time around, striker Richarlison was part of the Brazil squad that reached the final of the