Ángel Di María spoke abotu his goal in the World Cup final against France.
Di María scored in the final of the 2008 Olympics, the Copa America final and the Finalissima. He did not expect to start in the World Cup final against France but he started and he scored. Speaking in an interview with TyC Sports, he commented on the entire World Cup tournament and wanting to continue with the Argentina national team. In the same interview, he spoke about the final itself. Here is what he had to say:
“I had a little discomfort on an old scar. Against Australia, I preferred not to play. Against the Netherlands, I was ready to play a few minutes, against Croatia too. But these are decisions that are made according to the opponent. We accept them because that’s how things work out and always fit with what the team needs.
“Scaloni made the decision. THey were going to put Coman, who is fast and he told me that he was going to put Huevo (Marcos Acuña) so that Taglia (Nicolás Tagliafico) could defend better.
“I can follow to mark the player but it is more difficult for me. I asked him to leave me a little bit more and he took me out. They are difficult decisions because they ended up with about six forwards, they played for all or nothing. It also happened to us with the Netherlands.”
About playing on the left in the World Cup final:
“Not even I expected to play on the left in the final, let alone start. The team was playing well, doing things well but Scaloni went back and showed confidence in me for a final, he went back and put me as a starter.
“I felt good in the trainings. I found out in the talk before going out onto the pitch that the team gave.
“When I saw that I was on the left, I thought that he had been confused, but after he explained that we can hurt them there, that I was going to have fun and that it was going to be the difference because it was their most “loose” point. It’s a little bit of tipping your hat to the coach who in every match does things different and because it ends up being that way.
“We hadn’t trained nothing. In training, it was almost always a line of five. I was tried a few times but on the right, as always, but just a little and nothing. And on set pieces, I switched one time each with Licha. I thought I wasn’t going to play. He surprised me by putting me on the left, but it’s their thing, which they see every day, with pictures to know where to hurt the opponent and that’s how we prepare the matches.”
Regarding his goal in the World Cup final:
“All I had to do was just push it. The marvel of that goal was made between Julián (Álvarez), Alexis (Mac Allister) and Leo (Messi). There are going to be goals and goals in finals, but I don’t think with such quality, with such freshness. I don’t know how to describe it, it was a spectacular move.
“I already knew that the goalkeeper would come out very fast, they had told me because I like to chip. But in this circumstance, he came very fast too and I saw that he had the defender so I tried to get him to pass a little over the goalkeeper.
“They had told us before the match that he was fast with his feet, so I tried to finish quickly. At that moment, as it came, I tried to go diagonal and have it pass over the goalkeeper, but the magic came from the three in midfield.
“I got emotional on the goal. It’s something I had inside me, a pain for not having played in 2014. There, I thought I was going to be on the bench and from nothing, I was a starter and could score the goal which I had dreamed about my entire life. For a moment, I had a brain freeze but at seconds, the tears came down.”
About France’s come back and if he saw the save by Emiliano Martínez in the last moment of the match:
“In a final, we have all of the best, that’s why they get to the final and it’s normal that things can happen. It could happen to the opponent but it happened this way. They have players of very high quality that fight to be among the best and it’s normal that from one moment to another they score two goals.
“I didn’t see it Dibu’s save towards the end. I saw when the ball bounced and that Cuti touched it with his head and we counter attacked. I didn’t see it, I had just covered my head because I couldn’t believe what we were experiencing at that moment. From winning 2-0 with that calmness to what was happening. We didn’t expect it.”
Gallardo turned down the Ajax managerial position. I know, I know, everybody says it’s a done deal…but it’s not done until the ink is on the contract. I hope I am wrong and I have said this before, Gallardo is holding out for the NT job if Scaloni does not renew. I’ll say it again I hope Scaloni continues our manager, but a man like Gallardo is very well connected in Argentina, and he has got to know something. If Scaloni doesn’t stay on, Gallardo is the number one choice without any doubt.
I think he is waiting Atlético Madrid job which could be available in the summer.
I’d be very surprised if Scaloni resigned but I’d understand if he has desire to move on and go for league.
Scaloni stock so high because winning copa and world Cup he could get any managerial job in top clubs having said that he will definitely staying arg nt. I will be shocked if he doesn’t sign his extention with huge improvement of his salary on the table for him now .
Hope scaloni learns not to go over defensive next time.
Otamendi after conceding the penalty was still trying to process it and when the long ball came through he completely misjudged it leading to the one on one chance which Dibu saved. In matches like the world cup final, emotions play a big part. Before the penalty we looked compact in the back defending in packs and not losing possession but once Otamendi made that judgment in error when trying to kill time his tired legs got outpaced and it led to a penalty. Had we kept France at 2-1 for another 5 mins , we could have scored another and mande it 3-1 making it impossible for France to come back again. In hindsight, Otamendi played too many matches and Scaloni should have subbed him for Licha right after he conceded the penalty.
I’m not really one to criticize a winning coach. I mean, we won the freaking world cup! But I am excited for the Romero-Licha partnership in the future. I think Otamendi still has some great work in him, but I think those two should be starters from now on with Otamendi and any young defenders subbing in.
Excellent comment as usual, SulaV.
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