Lionel Messi dejected at having to sit out Olympic games

Argentina skipper Lionel Messi

Argentina skipper Lionel Messi has expressed his disappointment at having to sit out this year’s Olympic Games in Brazil.

The Barcelona superstar would have been a shoe-in as one of the three over-aged players to represent the Argentines in Rio, yet with the games coinciding with this year’s special Copa America Centenario, national team coach Gerardo Martino opted to utilise his talisman for the continental showpiece rather than the world’s biggest multi-sporting event.

Messi, who has previously played at the Olympic Games, winning gold in 2008, said he is sad to be missing out on this year’s spectacle in Brazil.

“I would have liked to go because it was a spectacular experience for me to play in the [2008] Olympics, just as it was for the [2005] U20 World Cup,” the forward told ESPN.

“Not just because we won, but for the experience I gained.

“It was a great experience to stay in the Olympic Village and meet other elite athletes from other sports and to be just another athlete among them; that was very spectacular even though we didn’t spend a lot of time in the village.

“World Cup is great but Olympics are something special.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30ZPNhIuuMo

The Argentine talisman will now set his sights on going one better at the Copa America, having lost last year’s final to Chile.

“It is a new Copa, different,” he said. “Very nice in the United States and very different from what I have played before because of the people, the stadiums,” Messi said.

“That will make it different and for us, a new chance.”

The Albiceleste have been drawn in Group D of June’s 100-year commemorative tournament, where they will face defending champions Chile, Panama and Bolivia. Kickoff.com

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