No Lionel Messi in Argentina Squad For Rio Olympics
Lionel Messi's exclusion was expected. He won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Highlights
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Lionel Messi has not been included in Argentina's Olympic squad
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Messi is currently playing in the 2016 Copa America
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Argentina will take on Chile on Sunday in the final
Argentina coach Gerardo Martino on Thursday named part of his squad for the Rio Olympics but superstar Lionel Messi was not included after being chosen for the Copa America instead.
The full list of 22 will be revealed in the coming days but not before Sunday's final of the Copa, where Argentina take on holders Chile.
Messi's exclusion was expected. He won gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 but Martino had already decided that the Barcelona star would not compete at both the Copa and the Olympics in August.
Nine players were named in the squad on Thursday.
They were Giovani Lo Celso (Rosario Central), Geronimo Rulli (Real Sociedad), Angel Correa (Atletico Madrid), Emmanuel Mammana (River Plate), Jonathan Silva (Boca Juniors), Jose Luis Gomez (Lanus), Mauricio Martinez (Union), Leandro Paredes (Empoli) and Cristian Espinoza (Huracan).
Argentina were Olympic champions in 2004 and 2008 and will be favourites in Rio.
They are in Group D of the competition along with Portugal, Algeria and Honduras.