Ángel Di María made it clear that his cycle in the Argentine National Team is not over, beyond the fact that he ruled himself out for the next World Cup due to a matter of age. However, the winger, a key piece of the title in Qatar 2022, assured that he will aim to reach the Copa América 2024 in the United States, while he negotiates his continuity in the Juventus club in Italy.
“I won’t make it to the next World Cup but my goal is to be up to the task of being part of the next Copa América,” said Di María, 35. For this reason, the Rosario anticipated that he will seek to sign with a European team so that coach Lionel Scaloni takes him into account. “If he doesn’t see you well at the moment, he doesn’t call you,” he argued in an interview with ESPN.
On the contrary, even though he is older than him, Di María considered that Lionel Messi cannot be absent from the next World Cup, despite the fact that he will turn 39 during the tournament. “Lionel has to be in the World Cup no matter what, he’s the best in history and he’s ours. For my generation he’s the best in history, I love Diego (Maradona) and I owe him a lot because he bankrolled me when others didn’t want me It would have been beautiful to be in Qatar,” he explained.
During the interview, Di María recalled some details of the final in Qatar against France. “I couldn’t believe we went to penalties because we had an incredible first half. In my goal I only had to push her, the play was from my teammates and I knew I had to define from above because Hugo Lloris always comes out and throws himself to the ground” , remarked the Rosario, who commented that he thought he was going to be a substitute in the game because during the week he trained with five back and found out “two hours before” that he was going to start. The Juventus footballer said that he did not understand why Scaloni had placed him on the “left side” and realized with “the gait of the game”.
With everything that has happened in Qatar and the world title celebrations, Di María made it clear that he is waiting to return to play in the country to revive the celebrations. “I am counting the days to play the friendlies in March in the country. We feel that we enjoyed little. The journey was short because we could not advance, we wanted to reach the Obelisk to be with everyone. The madness of the people was stronger than everyone “, indicated the Fideo, who felt proud of what he had achieved. “It was worth putting up with all the criticism. I knew that one day it was going to happen and if I wasn’t going to leave knowing that I gave it my all,” the Rosario native rescued.
In relation to the continuity of Lionel Scaloni in office, he was valued for “arming the group” and that they made “the group believe that they could be champions.” “He deserves the award for the best coach in the world from FIFA,” he said.
Anger with the leaders of Central
With his idea of staying in Europe to stay close to the National Team, Di María ruled out the chance of returning to Central for the moment. And in this sense, he was angry with the “scoundrel” leadership, which predicted that the talented footballer could return to the club in the middle of the year, when he ended his relationship with Juventus. “I did not like the statements of the vice president, Carolina Cristinziano, because they use me for political purposes, they excite people and generate discomfort with one,” Di María said about the words of the ‘scoundrel’ leader.
The anger has to do with the fact that Cristinziano declared that this is “the year” for Di María’s return to Central but the leaders did not speak to the protagonist, who continued: “If I don’t come back now, they putena me. The one who I decide my future and the decisions were always impeccable, for a reason I was in the best clubs. The decision to return will be made by me”.
In fact, the forward commented that he was speaking with the president and husband of the vice president, Gonzalo Belloso, but the statement for the power that “those words” have seemed “unnecessary”. “The managers can’t do anything, I watch all the Rosario Central games at the time they are played and where they are played. I look at everything, I follow it in detail and I also talk to my friends. Nobody has to propose anything to me, when they think that the moment is right, I’ll turn around”, warned Di María, beyond appreciating the management of Belloso and his wife: “Things are doing better in Rosario Central. The club needed a change and grow again. We needed people who love the club”.
