By Joiner Martinez
Aug 30, 2024, 10:33 PM EDT
The reigning world champion and two-time American champion, Ángel Di María, announced at the end of July that he was going to retire from the Argentina national team after having played 145 matches and scored 31 goals.
Given this situation, the Argentine national team coach, Lionel Scaloni, indicated that “El Fideo” will be honored in Buenos Aires during the South American 2026 World Cup qualifying match against Chile next Thursday, September 5.
“I had a chat with him and I think the best thing for everyone is for him to come and retire with his people so that he can identify with everything he has given us and that it will be a special day,” said the Argentine coach.
“The tribute is well deserved, it had a movie-like ending, it couldn’t have been better. The idea is that he has a night as he deserves, since he is one of the best to have played for the Argentine national team and he is an example of survival, of continuing to try even if you don’t win,” added the coach.
“DI MARÍA LIVED FOR THE NATIONAL TEAM, HE IS AN EXAMPLE.” Lionel Scaloni spoke about the tribute they want to pay to Fideo for his time with the National Team and highlighted what Ángel meant to him as a person and as a player.
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The current Benfica player said during an interview with ESPN that, after his retirement from the Albiceleste, he now feels like “another fan of the national team” and hopes that the titles keep coming.
“If you don’t win in Argentina, you’re a failure. In 2019, I had reached my limit because we had gone more than 10 years without titles with the national team. It killed us to have lost two Copa América finals and a World Cup final,” said the 36-year-old winger.
“I wouldn’t change anything. If I had to suffer everything I suffered in the national team to end up like this, I would do it again,” said the Argentine who would later win two Copa Américas and a World Cup.
Fideo revealed that there were more “difficult periods” in Argentina than those he enjoyed, although he explained that “all those joys outweighed the bad times” and for him that was fundamental to being able to appreciate the victories.
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