Ángel Di María spoke about the Argentina national team at the World Cup, Lionel Messi, Lionel Scaloni and the win against England.
Di María was part of the Argentina national team that won the 2022 World Cup. He was not part of the 2026 World Cup team having retired from international football. Speaking to TNT Sports after Rosario Central’s match, Ángel Di María had this to say about the World Cup:
“For me, the World Cup ended when Argentina won against England. We gave the biggest joy to the country.”
When asked about Lionel Messi:
“Yes, Leo should continue for as long as he wants. I think he can keep going for many more years.
“At 39 years old, he’s proven he’s one of the best and still the best in history, with no ceiling.”
He was also asked about Lionel Scaloni:
“As for Scaloni, he’s the leader of the Scaloneta and his national team and I hope he continues. I think it’s in everyone’s best interest, as he’s currently building an excellent generation of young new players and all of this adds to the national team. The decision is his and he knows what he wants but as an Argentine, I hope he continues.”
Sorry, I don’t agree with him. Nothing compares to the glory of a World Cup for a footballer. Winning wars is the army’s domain; that’s how they bring honour to a nation. We shouldn’t conflate the two. We gathered to celebrate a football triumph, not to fear punishment for holding a placard.
I don’t disagree with Fideo. Beating England in a manner in which we did was almost as good as winning it all.
What were our realistic expectations for most of us before the World Cup? For many of us, myself included, winning it back to back seemed like a nearly impossible feat. I thought if we reach semi-finals that’d be a good result. We exceeded expectations. I also wanted us to beat one of France, Portugal or England en route, which we did. Of course losing a final is always very painful, but with key players not at their best due to injuries or past their prime, reaching a final seemed like a big deal.
Our most in-form midfielders this season had been Barco, Paz and Palacios and they hardly played. Part of me wonders if they should have. Enzo and Mac looked tired at times. De Paul only had 2 good games, vs Algeria and his cameo vs England.
I praised Molina before the World Cup, calling him our best RB since Zanetti and he ended up having a terrible tournament, a lot of the goals we conceded was his fault.
Overall, I am proud of this team nonetheless, proud of our goat Messi, he is forever the best. Cuti and Licha played really well, we saw a golazo from Alvarez. Dibu did his job in the final. Now we march on, without Otamendi, Messi, Paredes and many others. It is Argentina, there is always lots of talent, let’s rebuild for the future and try to win the next Copa America.
Vamos Argentina!
IMO Scaloni has a problem..he will not remove his core players unless injured or we have a shock defeat. If the incoming players shows they are at high level..then only he stick with that new player.
This is how Emi, Romero, Alvarez, Enzo, Mac etc took the place. He’s very close to the player..he doesn’t have heart to remove them from playing X1 or team.
you must be really bright to compare a retard like molina to a icon legend ike zanetti, one of the best rbs ever.
even last wc he was bad & keeps playing awful for atletico
Roarshach09, watch your tone, ad hominems are not tolerated here for too long…
We need to rebuild..
Scaloni and Co has the experience of doing it..
They have won all the trophies available..
I know we had a bad final…but it was not just tactical issue..physical issue as well..Lisandro, Romero injured in Final..Enzo Red carded. They are the best players after Messi. So many injured and unfit players, even in final playing X1.
So, the best is to keep Scaloni and Co. And rebuild.
Remember how he started? Same way…ask every core players of this team to rake rest for few games..! And play against small teams to build a team. Keep only young players from the WC squad. Later if we miss something, we can add our experienced players and form a great team
I am seeing so many talented young players now..than we saw after 2018.
Scaloni and Co can do it again…we can’t go backwards and wait another 20 years for a trophy.
I’ve seen an immense amount of hate toward Simeone on this forum ever since I joined before the World Cup.
Simeone has always tried to help Argentine football.
He has consistently brought Argentine players into the same club to build chemistry, hoping it would translate to the national team, much like Barcelona’s core did for Spain. Unfortunately, it hasn’t really worked because his style of football doesn’t seem to suit this generation of Argentine players.
Still, his intentions is clear. That’s one of the reasons he’s so respected by the AFA, the players, and the coaching staff. He’s regularly invited to Argentina matches and treated as a honourable guest.
Criticize his tactics if you want, but don’t hate the man. He’s genuinely trying to do what’s best for Argentine football. It simply hasn’t worked the way he hoped…
He tried, but he does have a track record of killing or at least stalling the careers of many Argentine young talents who end up on his books going all the way back to Luciano Vietto, Matias Kranevitter and Cristian Ansaldi.
I remember you spoke about the fact that we’re considered an unclassy and overly aggressive team on the pitch, funnily enough part of the reason this tournament has been because a lot of our players gravitated towards playing for Simeone and the perception was that we adopted his style of being physical brutes.
No Angel! We needed the damn cup!
Even Di maria knows we weren’t allowed to win the final. His knows this group more than anyone and he knows something was definitely wrong. The winning against England and showing the banner sealed our fate.