Kylian Mbappe had expressed a robust need to compete on this yr’s Olympics in his hometown, and there have been hopes that Lionel Messi may be part of the match for Argentina. However, the lads’s soccer occasion on the Paris Games will probably lack these star points of interest.
As France’s captain and the nation’s most celebrated athlete, Mbappe’s inclusion in coach Thierry Henry’s Olympic squad would have been a major increase for each the organizers and the staff’s gold medal prospects.
But Mbappe, 25, needed to settle for that his new membership, Real Madrid, wouldn’t enable him to take part instantly after he performed for the French aspect that reached the semifinals of Euro 2024 in Germany.
That is the problem for the lads’s soccer competitors, which begins on Wednesday and runs till Aug. 9. Clubs aren’t required to launch gamers for a match held exterior an official FIFA worldwide window, following straight from the European Championship and Copa America.
Messi, now 37 and a part of the Argentina staff that gained Olympic gold in Beijing in 2008, dominated himself out of Javier Mascherano’s squad for Paris shortly earlier than the Copa America within the United States, which Argentina gained.
“I spoke with Mascherano, and we immediately agreed on the situation,” Messi informed ESPN. “At my age, I don’t want to play everything and need to make the right choices.”
Henry, a French footballing nice, additionally missed out on a number of gamers he had hoped to name up.
“The last time I had so many rejections was when I was in high school,” he joked when asserting a staff during which essentially the most recognizable names are Alexandre Lacazette, the 33-year-old Lyon striker, and new Bayern Munich signing Michael Olise.
The competitors is restricted to gamers aged below 23, with a most of three overage gamers per squad. Besides the absence of star names, the match additionally misses Brazil, who gained gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and retained the title in Tokyo three years in the past, beating Spain within the ultimate.
Argentina, Spain contenders
Brazil did not qualify, however Argentina should fancy their possibilities of making certain a sixth consecutive Latin American winner of the lads’s soccer gold medal. “Obviously our objective is to try to compete and go all the way, and I think we will have a team that can do that,” coach Mascherano, who gained as a participant in 2004 and 2008, mentioned in an interview with South American confederation CONMEBOL.
In Julian Alvarez, the Manchester City striker who gained the 2022 World Cup and the current Copa America, Argentina may have one of many highest-profile gamers participating. Argentina is in Group B with Iraq, Ukraine, and a Morocco aspect that has secured the providers of Paris Saint-Germain right-back Achraf Hakimi.
France kicks off its marketing campaign towards the United States earlier than additionally enjoying Guinea and New Zealand in Group A. Winners in 1992 and silver medalists in Tokyo, Spain is concentrating on gold after its triumph at Euro 2024. Luis de la Fuente, coach of Spain’s Euro-winning aspect, led the staff to the ultimate on the final Olympics. Santi Denia, his assistant three years in the past, is now in cost.
Leading names from the European Championship, comparable to Lamine Yamal, aren’t concerned, however one other prodigious younger Barcelona expertise will function: 17-year-old center-back Pau Cubarsi. “He is really proud to be getting the experience of the Olympics. You never know if you will get another chance, even being so young,” Denia informed Marca of Cubarsi.
Spain is in Group C with Uzbekistan, the Dominican Republic, and Egypt, which didn’t safe the providers of Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah. Asian Under-23 champions Japan, who named a squad with out overage gamers, are in Group D alongside Paraguay, Mali, and Israel.
Matches won’t solely be performed in Paris; Nantes, Bordeaux, Nice, and Saint-Etienne may even host video games. The semifinals might be held in Lyon and Marseille, whereas Paris’s Parc des Princes will host the ultimate.
Source: www.dailysabah.com