After a rich career with the beautiful game that witnessed many international titles and achievements, the veteran Argentine star Angel Di Maria awaits the happy ending of his career with his country’s national team, by winning the “Copa America 2024” title.
The Argentine national team will meet its Colombian counterpart (next Monday morning) in the final match of the competition, which is currently being held in the United States.
After starting Argentina’s 2-0 win over Canada in the semi-finals of the 2024 Copa America, the match, which will be held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, will be Di Maria’s last for the Argentine national team, after he announced his retirement from international football after the continental tournament.
Di María made his debut for the Argentina national team on September 6, 2008, when he played against Paraguay in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
Di Maria has played 144 international matches over 16 years, and is preparing to end his career with the Argentine national team as the third most capped player for the team, behind Lionel Messi (185 matches) and the retired player Javier Mascherano (147 matches).
Born in Messi’s hometown of Rosario, Argentina, on February 14, 1988, Di Maria became part of a successful Argentine generation that emerged over the past decade.
Between the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the current edition of the Copa America, the Argentine national team has reached the final of 6 major tournaments out of a total of 8 competitions, as the team failed to qualify for the final match in the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2019 Copa America in Brazil only during that series.
During this period, the team of local coach Lionel Scaloni won the “Copa America 2021” title in Brazil and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and in the same year it also won the Finalissima Cup, which is held between the champions of the European and South American nations.
Di Maria did not just play, but was decisive in winning all the titles under Scaloni’s management, which made the fans call him the “Man of the Finals”.
Di Maria scored Argentina’s winning goal in the Copa America three years ago, in a 1-0 win over Brazil in the final, and also found the net in the 3-0 win over Italy in the Finalissima Cup.
Di Maria also scored in the Qatar World Cup final, during the match that ended in a 3-3 draw with France after extra time, before the “Tango Dancers” team won the World Cup for the third time in its history, by defeating the “Roosters” team on penalties.
Before being promoted to the Argentine national team, Di Maria won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2007, and won the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, after scoring his country’s only goal in their victory over Nigeria in the final.
Di Maria also holds an important position among Argentina’s players in the Copa America, as he is ranked second on the list of players who participated the most in the team’s matches in the tournament with 27 matches, and he is only surpassed by Messi, who played 38 matches.
After scoring 30 goals and providing 29 assists over nearly 16 years, Di Maria’s journey is coming to an end in Miami, where the 48th edition of the world’s oldest and most prestigious national team tournament will be crowned champion.
Before the Copa America final, Di Maria has not been able to score in the current edition of the competition so far, but he is looking forward to scoring against Colombia again, after previously visiting their net in September 2016, in Argentina’s 3-0 win during the two teams’ match in the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup.
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