2024 officially starts for
Lionel Messi who will turn
37
on June 24
.
It is the age at which many retire from football or think about how to hang their boots in the most decorous way possible.
This is not the case for Leo, who has a year ahead of him
full of commitments between the Argentine National Team and this Inter Miami that is about to start its season
.
And there is great expectation for what can happen here in the United States.
Because Inter Miami will begin its first full campaign in super reinforced mode.
It is true that in his debut season in the MLS, in 2022, he had
Gonzalo Higuaín
as a franchise player.
But nothing compares with this team led by Messi, with
Luis Suárez
,
Sergio Busquets
and
Jordi Alba
as squires like in the good times of Barcelona and with young blood that appears like
Facundo Farías
,
Tomás Avilés
and the brand new reinforcement
Federico Redondo
.
Photo: EFE/EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH
The now global franchise, which has David Beckham
as one of its owners, is betting on winning many tournaments in 2024
.
In addition to the MLS itself, the team led by
Gerardo Martino
aims to win the
Concacaf Champions Cup
, with the idea of earning a ticket to the
Club World Cup
, and repeating in the
Leagues Cup
, the first trophy the team collected. club with Messi in superstar mode.
On the other hand, Messi will seek to continue the path of victory with the Argentine National Team.
It will also be here, in the United States, where the team managed by
Lionel Scaloni
will play in a new Copa América and will try to defend the title it won in 2021 at the Maracaná against Brazil and which was, in retrospect, Scaloneta's first hit.
The question is whether Leo will cross the doors that
Javier Mascherano
opened for him to be one of the three seniors who will seek Olympic gold in Paris 2024. The coach made it clear that Leo has his place assured if he so wishes.
However,
that tournament that will be played between the end of July and the beginning of August is still not on Messi's agenda
.
As
Clarín
was able to find out , the decision is far from being made.
Neither for yes nor for no
.
But the concrete thing is that
it looks very far away
.
At the same time,
totally conditioned
by what may happen in the Copa América and also the needs of Inter Miami.
Photo: AP / Roberto Candia
The fact is that the Olympic soccer tournament, the one that a young Messi won in Beijing 2008, overlaps with the Leagues Cup. And that overloaded schedule can conspire against Inter Miami's plans.
And also with the dosage of energy that the Rosario native must bring to avoid demanding the maximum demands from a body that has been working for two decades.
Step by step, month by month, tournament by tournament.
This is what Messi 2024 will be like. The idea is to think carefully about the steps.
It is still not known what he will do in 2025. And even less so in 2026, where everyone expects him to be a World Cup player again to demolish all the records that have existed and will exist.
We have to wait... But for now it seems difficult to imagine an Olympic Flea again.