Angel Di Maria Of Argentina Set His Retirement Deadline

Angel Di Maria has revealed that he will hang his international boots after 2024 Copa America following a 16-year run with the national team.

Angel Di Maria revealed this on Tuesday, 17th October 2023 while speaking in an interview with Argentina radio Urbana Play 104.3.

The Benfica winger said: “I will leave the Argentina national team after the Copa America. It’s over for me, it will be the last tournament.”

Di Maria is currently sidelined with an injury and will not feature in this week’s CONMEBOL qualifiers for the Albiceleste.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid player also revealed that he returned to Benfica from Juventus to remain in good shape ahead of next year’s Copa America.

Angel Di Maria also added, “I said it many times to my family, the Copa America changed our lives forever.”

“Because it was always getting there [to the finals] and losing it, until the day I came home and they told me ‘this time you won it.

“After being a world champion, people recognize you everywhere. I take my daughters to school in Portugal and there are children who are five or six years old and they tell me: ‘You’re a world champion.’ That’s the only thing they know about me.”

The Argentine has enjoyed a successful career both in the national team and clubside. He has found the back of the net for Argentina 29 times.

Di Maria also won the gold medal in Beijing in 2008 with Argentina and the FIFA U20 World Cup in 2007 in addition to World Cup and Copa America titles.

Angel Di Maria

Ángel Fabián Di María is an Argentine footballer who was born on 14 February 1988 and plays as a right winger or attacking midfielder for Benfica and the Argentina national team.

The player is considered one of the greatest Argentine players of all time. He is known for his dribbling, playmaking skills, and unique finishing.

Angel Di Maria made his international debut for Argentina in 2007, competing for the under-20 team. That year, the team won the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was held in Canada.

Di Mara, who represented Argentina in the 2008 Olympics, scored the game-winning goal against Nigeria in the championship match to give Argentina their second consecutive football gold medal.

He made his senior debut for Argentina in the same year, 2008, when he was 20 years old. Since then, he has earned over 125 caps for his country and played in nine major competitions.

He has participated in four FIFA World Cups, helping his nation reach the final in 2014 and win their third World Cup in 2022, the first in 36 years, by scoring the second goal in the championship game.

Additionally, Angel Di Maria was a member of the Argentina team that advanced to the Copa América final in each of the years 2015, 2016, and 2021.

Angel Di Maria scored the game-winning goal in that final to give Argentina their first championship in 28 years.

Argentina, the South American champions, defeated Italy 3-0 in the 2022 Finalissima thanks to two goals from Di Mara.