After the titles won in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, Argentina will seek its third gold medal in men’s football in Paris 2024 and is preparing a team full of figures, including some of the world champions in Qatar 2022.
The regulations offer the opportunity to bring three players over 23 years old to their rosters and Javier Mascherano, coach of the Argentine national team in Paris, will have Nicolás Otamendi and Julián Alvarez in the Olympic Games.
The main drawback for negotiating with clubs (they are not required to transfer them) is that from June 20 to July 14, the Copa América will be played in the United States, so clubs will be unable to count with the players for a long time if they are in both competitions.
Benfica of Portugal gave the go-ahead for Otamendi to play in the Olympic Games in addition to the Copa América, the same happened with Manchester City of England in relation to Alvarez and now it remains to be seen who will be the third oldest that Mascherano will have.
Although Lionel Messi has not yet officially ruled out his absence, the Argentine star will not be in Paris and the last spot, if Aston Villa agrees, will go to goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez. Meanwhile, another open negotiation is for Enzo Fernández, Chelsea’s midfielder.
Mascherano won two gold medals as a soccer player, the first in Athens and the second in Beijing, where he played as one of the over 23 years old. The other Argentinian who managed to hang two golds on his chest in the history of the Olympic Games was the polo player Juan Nelson, in Paris 1924 and Berlin 1936.
Professional soccer players were only able to participate for the first time in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games (only if they were under 23 years old) and since Atlanta 1996 there has been this possibility of including three over that age. France dreams of having another world champion like Kylian Mbappé, although Real Madrid, the club where he would continue his career, has already announced that it will not give in to its international figures. Will it be Antoine Griezmann?
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