Lionel Messi to play for Argentina at Copa America, but not Olympics

Even superhuman athletes have their limits.

Argentina manager Gerardo Martino confirmed that captain Lionel Messi will partake in this summer's Copa America Centenario in the United States, but the Barcelona icon will, as a result, sit out the Olympic football tournament two months later.

"Messi will not go to the Olympic Games," Martino said Monday in a conversation with Argentine radio station La Red, as quoted by ESPN FC.

The 28-year-old attacker, who led his nation to a gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, would have been eligible for the coming tournament by virtue of rules that allow each team to include three players over the age of 23 in the squad.

However, Martino said he didn't want to risk overextending the reigning Ballon d'Or winner. The Copa America runs from June 3-26, while the Olympic tournament kicks off Aug. 5.

"We have the Copa America, the Olympic Games, and World Cup qualifiers in September, October and November,'' Martino noted.

Messi's also likely to endure a heavy workload in what's expected to be a long, trophy-laden campaign that will see Barcelona make a deep run into the latter stages of the Champions League.