Will Lionel Messi Play For Argentina at Summer Olympics?

Fans were previously excited at the possibility of Lionel Messi playing at the summer Olympics. However, coach Gerardo Martino might not allow the Barcelona star to keep him from burning out.

The Guardian revealed that Martino mentioned that he will rest Messi for the summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Letting the Barca forward play might cause him to burn out, and compromise his performance in the Copa America in the United States in summer 2016. He said the Leo has already done too much and it would be detrimental to compromise his health as they prepare for the second half of the year.

“Exposing Leo by using him in another competition after all the football he’s played would be overkill, in my opinion. It would come back to haunt us in terms of what we have in store in the second half of the year,” Tata Martino told the Clarín, an Argentinian publication.

“Common sense dictates that he and other players in his position should only feature in the Copa América,” Martino continued. Messi previously suffered a knee injury in fall 2015.

The coach admitted that he has not talked to Messi about his involvement yet, but it is only logical not to tire him out by letting him play in both the Copa America and summer Olympics. Martino explained that many of their most important players get to the latter phases of international contests having had played several games. He said that their stars have to be in good shape to qualify for the World Cup 2018. Their pre-season should be spent with their clubs and they also need to take a break after the Copa America, based on the same Guardian report.

ESPN FC wrote that Messi last won a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. The four-time Ballon d’Or winner’s team entered the finals at the 2014 World Cup and 2015 Copa America but did not bring home any awards. Argentina is set to join the 2016 Centennial Copa America in June and the summer Olympics in Brazil in August. Messi, 28, will be eligible to play in the summer Olympics as one of three allowed “overage” players, but will most likely skip the competition. His teammate, Neymar, will most likely join for Brazil. Martino also said that perhaps a player under 23 will have a fixed position in the senior team. There might also be an older player required for the Olympics.