Mascherano in tug of war with Liverpool and Olympics
May 30th 2008 00:15
Javier Masherano will talk with manager Rafael Benitez over his availability for the Olympics
English giants Liverpool will hold talks with midfielder Javier Mascherano in regards to his participation at the Olympics in Beijing later this year.
The Argentine international is one of Rafael Benitez's key men and has stressed the club faces a tough decision whether to release the player to represent his country in the Olympic tournament.
"It is a very difficult situation for us. I know that he can play as one of the over age players for Argentina so i will hold talks with him in regards to his stance on things" Benitez said.
The Olympic games will run from the 8th to 24th of August, while the English Premier league kicks off on the 16th of the same month. Benitez said he his prepared to play the waiting game in regards to Mascherano's availability for the Olympics.
"We still have time so i think we will wait. We will try to find a solution that complements both Mascherano and the club".
"It is a difficult situation because if a country wants their best players, they must negotiate with their respective clubs. Besides, from our point of view, we must handle this situation the best we can".
Argentine Olympic coach Sergio Batista has admitted that these recent developments have disturbed his teams preperation.
It has been quite some time that Batista's intentions were to have the likes of Demechelis, Mascherano and Riquelme as the over age players in the Olympic tournament in Beijing. However, German giants Bayern Munich made it clear they will not release Demechelis to the Olympics.
Although Riquelme has been declared to take part in Argentina's tilt for back to back gold, Mascherano's situation leaves him on standby.
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