Both Argentina’s U20 manager and IOC President Thomas Bach have expressed a desire to have Lionel Messi play at the 2024 Olympics. “Leo has an open door to the national team to do whatever he wishes—that’s the reality. If we end up qualifying [for the Olympics] and he wants to go, he will be welcome. My relationship with him is that of a great friendship and I would love it,” U20 manager Javier Mascherano said. “It would be fantastic if he could be here. For Lionel Messi, it would mean a chance to write history once again. He could be the only player in history to have two gold medals and a World Cup,” Bach added.
Teams who qualify for the men’s Olympic soccer tournament can register and field three players over the age of 23. Furthermore, Messi previously won Olympic gold at Beijing 2008. However, the chances of Messi playing at the Olympics are slim. It’s likely that Messi will be called up for the Copa America the month before the Olympics. Therefore, it’s unlikely that Inter Miami will be willing to release Messi for two months of the MLS season to play in both tournaments.
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Messi Nominated For MLS Newcomer Of The Year
Elsewhere, Messi has been nominated for the MLS Newcomer Of The Year Award. The award is given to the best player with prior professional experience playing his first year in the US. Messi was nominated alongside Giorgos Giakoumakis (Atlanta United) and Eduard Löwen (St. Louis). Giakoumakis joined Atlanta from Scottish side Celtic. Meanwhile, Löwen made his MLS debut this year after signing from German club Hertha Berlin in 2022.
Messi scored 11 goals in 14 games for Miami. However, 10 of those goals came in the in-season Leagues Cup tournament. The Argentine legend had just one goal and six appearances in MLS regular-season matches as injuries and fatigue set in. After all, Messi joined Inter Miami after playing a full season of domestic and continental soccer with PSG in France. The award will be announced later this year. Inter Miami were unable to make the leap into the playoffs with Messi struggling to stay on the field to end the regular season.
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