It sometimes goes unnoticed that Angel Di Maria has won the same amount of titles for Argentina as has Lionel Messi. He’s experienced both the excitement of winning a World Cup and the pain of witnessing fans wanting him out of the team. After the Copa America, this story will be over, and he’ll be leaving with his head held high.
Di Maria’s relationship with the Argentina national team couldn’t have had a better start. The first moments of Di Maria wearing the national kit were surrounded by glory. He won the U-20 World Cup in 2007 and one year after that he won the Olympic gold medal alongside Messi.
That period of success was followed by a series of unfortunate results that put the whole Argentina team in crisis. It all started with a disastrous performance in the 2010 World Cup that ended with a 4-0 defeat against Germany in the quarterfinals, followed by an early departure from the Copa America in 2011 at home after losing to Uruguay in the same stage.
While not being able to find answers with Argentina, he was shining at Real Madrid, winning Copa del Rey and Champions League titles. Like many other players in the national team, he was criticised because he couldn’t achieve with Argentina what he was doing at club level.
The 2014 World Cup changed things, at least momentarily. Argentina fans were living the dream: they reached the final in Brazil, their enemy’s territory, and everything was set for them to have perhaps the biggest party of their lives. For Di Maria, a top performance and his goal against Switzerland in the Round of 16 in the 118th minute earned favour with his nation's supporters. But Argentina lost that final, and Copa America in 2015, and then another one in 2016. All the hard work and the fact that they reached three finals in three years was overshadowed by the Argentine obsession with success.
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Messi decided to leave the national team in a brief retirement, tired of the highly unfair criticism. Di Maria’s family suggested he do the same. Why bother to go and play if the only result that matters is winning a final? Why bother if, after any defeat, the fans would flood the Internet with harsh criticism and the media would fill newspaper covers with painful headlines? All this was pumped by the fact that Di Maria missed the 2014 World Cup final due to injury and had to be subbed in the 2015 Copa America final for the same reason.
“He’s too scared to play finals”, fans would say, “he just doesn’t have what it takes.”
The term “Friends FC” was usually used by the media and the fans to refer to players such as Di Maria, Higuain and Aguero, accusing them of being able to stay in the team just because they were close to Messi.
Di Maria decided to keep playing for Argentina. He was doing things not a lot of footballers in the world would be able to do with a ball, and remained, for all of his critics, a crucial part of the team. “Underrated” is a term that fits him perfectly, as he rarely
Argentina played an awful 2018 World Cup and lost in the Round of 16 - most people were not expecting much from that team. That led to the arrival of Scaloni as a manager, and with that, the beginning of the era that would bring Argentina and Di Maria what they’d pursued for so long.
Perhaps without really expecting it, Argentina found themselves with a high chance of winning the first major tournament since 1993. The Copa America 2020 (played in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic) felt like a deja vú for Di Maria: another final in the Maracana. He was hoping to win it, of course, but was happy to play. And not only did he play, but he also scored a wonderful goal that meant a first title for Messi, for himself and for the national team in almost 30 years.
The Finalissima, played in 2022 between Argentina and Italy (winners of the Copa America and Euros) might have meant nothing for some people, but to Argentina it was critical. It was another trophy in the cabinet for a generation that had suffered more than some felt they deserved, and it also meant another goal for Di Maria in a final, in Wembley Stadium, full of white and blue shirts on that day.
Then came Qatar 2022. Argentina was able to celebrate the biggest title in football with their fans, something they couldn’t enjoy when they won the Copa America due to the games being played behind closed doors. Di Maria scored one goal in that tournament, against France in the final, finishing a flowing attacking move. And there he was again, playing a final, scoring in a final, winning a final.
And like every player on the team, Di Maria earned himself a place in all the Argentina fans’ hearts - arguably the most loved player after Messi, which is a lot to say.
“This is for my mum”, he said in tears after winning the World Cup.
Di Maria has brought not only good football to the Argentina team, he has also brought emotion, skills and important goals. He will forever be remembered and held up as a lesson to fans to know that sometimes football can be unfair, and that it’s more than titles that define legendary players. Di Maria can say goodbye to the national team knowing that he’s one of the most loved players in the nation - even if he will always be in the shadow of Messi.