Argentina's World Cup hero Di Maria announces his retirement
Ángel Di María's career has been dazzling. He won the Champions League with Real Madrid in 2014 and also won national titles in France and Portugal. But his greatest success came with Argentina. Now he announces the end of his national team career.
World champion Ángel Di María will retire from the Argentinian national soccer team at the Copa América next summer after almost 16 years. The 35-year-old striker for Portuguese record champions Benfica Lisbon announced his decision via Instagram. "The Copa will be my last time wearing the Argentina jersey. With pain in my soul and a lump in my throat, I say goodbye to the best thing that has happened to me in my career," Di María said after 136 caps (29 goals) for the South Americans.
By winning the World Cup title with the Albiceleste in Qatar last year, Di María crowned his glittering and successful career with the Argentinian national team. In the final against France (7:5 n.E.), he scored the early 2:0. "A masterpiece", raved the newspapers in the world champion country. The eternally criticized winger had become a legend. The star striker had previously celebrated further triumphs in national dress at the last Copa 2021 and at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
His last game will be in the USA
At club level, Di María won the Champions League with Real Madrid in 2014 and the Spanish championship two years earlier. With Paris St. Germain, the goalscorer won the French league title five times and the Portuguese crown once during his first spell with Benfica. By contrast, his spells with record champions Manchester United in England and, most recently, Juventus Turin in Italy failed to bring him any titles.
Argentina will be aiming to successfully defend their title at the Copa América 2024 in the USA (June 20 to July 14) with Di María and, above all, superstar Lionel Messi. The South American championship, which has been held since 1916 and has traditionally featured Central American guest teams in recent years, will take place outside its "home" latitudes for only the second time next year, after the USA also hosted the Copa América in 2016. Eight years later, the oldest national tournament in soccer will serve as a trial run for the 2026 World Cup finals, also in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Di María's retirement from international soccer comes after his celebrated win at the soccer world cup 2022 in Qatar, where he scored the early 2:0 in Argentina's victorious match against France. Despite his successful club careers with teams like Real Madrid and Benfica Lisbon, Di María's national team accomplishments, including the world cup title and the Copa América 2021, have cemented his legend status in Argentina.
Source: www.ntv.de
