Defender Nicolas Otamendi, striker Julián Álvarez and goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli — part of the most successful cycle in the history of the senior team with four consecutive titles, the last being the Copa América a few days ago — are the ones chosen to reinforce a group of new talents led by Javier Mascherano.
“They take the lead of the group because of their experience. They are world champions, they allow us to make a leap in quality,” said the coach in a recent interview with CONMEBOL.
Mascherano, a former midfielder who is among the players with the most caps for his country’s national team, is the only Argentine athlete in history to have won two Olympic gold medals, in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.
The Albiceleste will make their debut on Wednesday against Morocco, the African champion, in Group B. They will then face Iraq and close the match against Ukraine.
“The most important match is the first one,” said the coach. “After that, we have to keep thinking about the others. Our objective is to try to compete and take Argentina to the top. We are going to have a team that can compete at a very high level.”
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THE ILLUSTRIOUS ONES
Mascherano had initially targeted star Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria to reinforce the Olympic squad, but both declined the invitation. The former, 37, to preserve his fitness, while the 36-year-old winger said goodbye to the national team days ago after winning the continental championship twice.
Otamendi, another veteran of the national team at 36, received permission from his team Benfica of Portugal – clubs are not obliged to release players because Olympic football is not an official FIFA tournament – to join Mascherano’s team.
Voted one of the best defenders at the 2022 World Cup, Otamendi will bring defensive order and command to the Olympic team.
The 24-year-old “Spider” Alvarez was decisive with four goals in the World Cup and is coming off two more in the recent Copa America. It is speculated that, while the forward competes in Olympic football, his agents are negotiating a departure from Manchester City in search of more continuity.
Rulli, 32, is the regular back-up goalkeeper for the irreplaceable Emiliano Martínez in the Albiceleste. Paris is a good opportunity to show his abilities.
THE PROMISES
The Olympic Games are the ideal showcase for several young footballers who aspire to join the senior team coached by Lionel Scaloni.
Striker Thiago Almada, who has just joined Botafogo in Brazil, has already been called up by Scaloni and was even part of the world champion squad.
Claudio Echeverri, who came through the youth ranks of River Plate, caught the attention of Manchester City for his ease at the last U17 World Cup. At just 18 years old and with a handful of games in the first division, “El Diablito” will continue his career in English football from 2025 in exchange for a transfer fee of more than 20 million dollars.
Despite their young age, midfielders Ezequiel Fernández, Cristian Medina and Kevin Zenón are permanent starters in Boca Juniors’ midfield and are already in the sights of several European teams.
MASCHERANO, THE UNKNOWN
As a youth national team coach, Mascherano had good times and bad.
After retiring, the former River Plate, Corinthians, Barcelona and Liverpool player, among others, was hired by the Argentine Football Association (AFA) to coach the U20 team. He did not qualify for the 2023 World Cup in that category and resigned.
As the competition was eventually held in Argentina, Mascherano remained in charge, but the host country failed to make it past the round of 16 and once again put his continuity in doubt.
The coach got his revenge at the Pre-Olympic tournament in Venezuela earlier this year when he won the decisive match against his classic rival Brazil for one of the two available tickets to Paris.
In the last friendly match in preparation for the Olympic tournament, the Albiceleste lost 1-0 to Guinea.
Source: AP
