Mascherano: Many overage players hope to participate in the Olympics

Argentina U23 national team coach Mascherano discussed the situation regarding the squad selection for the Paris Olympics in a post-match press conference, stating that many overage players wish to represent Argentina in the Olympics.

Regarding the Olympics starting on July 24th, Mascherano preemptively stated, "Our idea is to maintain the squad of players who participated in the Olympic qualifiers. Some players we cannot call up because they are already part of the senior national team, which is a good thing for us."

He elaborated on the various factors affecting player call-ups, noting that this is not a FIFA competition, and clubs can unconditionally refuse to release players. He said, "We are having individual conversations with the players; everyone's situation is different, and clubs need to start responding in certain cases, but it's still too early as we haven't confirmed if some players will remain at the same club by then. Some players we don't need to look at anymore, like Lucas (Beltrán), we can't have him because he's already been called up to the national team, and we know Fiorentina won't release him for the pre-Olympic games. Our current idea is to play friendly matches in Argentina in June during FIFA matchdays; we will see if the situation favors us, and then we will move on to the final stage of preparation."

As for players aged 23 and over who can join the team, Mascherano expressed satisfaction with the interest shown by several players who have won the World Cup, such as Martínez, Tagliafico, De Paul, Otamendi, and Romero.

Mascherano said, "Regarding the older players, their desire to participate is beneficial for us, and many young players are also willing to join. We are discussing with Scaloni, but in many cases, it is subjective and has not yet involved club issues or the Copa America situation. Considering these issues, participating in the Olympics will be difficult for some players."