The Angel of Love: Di Maria turns 35

On February 14, 1988 in Rosario, Santa Fe, Ángel Fabián Di María was born, who eventually became one of the most important Argentine footballers in history by force of strength and sacrifice. The son of Miguel Di María and Diana Hernández started in a neighborhood club called El Torito. With a great level, “Fideo”, at the age of six, came to score 64 goals and caught Rosario’s attention Central.La passion of the family for the “Canalla” caused the mother of little Angel to travel nine kilometers to take him to training. Imagine this: a woman riding a bicycle all over Rosario, with a kid in front and a little girl in front, plus a sports bag, with my booties and something to eat. Uphill, downhill, in the rain, in the cold or at night. It didn’t matter, my mom just kept pedaling,” the player said. From its beginnings, “Fideo” knew what it was like to fight to achieve dreams. Not only for the example of his mother, but also for the lack of minutes in the lower ranks of the Rosario, something that almost forced him to stop playing football. Despite these difficulties, on December 14, 2005, with only 17 years, he made his debut in the Primera de Rosario Central, directed at that time by Ángel Tulio Zof, in a match against Independiente, whose result was a 2 to 2.  With only 39 games and six goals in the Rosario, Angel flew to Europe to wear the shirt of Benfica of Portugal. Before the jump to the “Old Continent”, he took his first steps in the youth of the Argentine National Team in the South American Sub 20 of 2007 and just a few months later he won the World Cup of the category. From that moment, his link with the national team was even greater, since in 2008 he was a key piece in obtaining the gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. In fact, he scored the only goal in the decisive match against Nigeria and allowed the cast commanded by Sergio Batista to take the medal. A goal in a final, something that over time was going to be repeated. After this performance, he was summoned in the major that same year and debuted in a friendly against Italy. From that moment, he went through moments of sadness and joy, since he lost the finals of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the Copa America Chile 2015 and the United States 2016, but he could take revenge and score the remembered goal against Brazil in 2021 that gave Argentina the Copa America and then returned to celebrate in the Finalíssima against Italy. As if this were not enough, “Fideo” put on the hero costume again in the Qatar 2022 World Cup. Despite having been absent in some matches, against France he had an outstanding match and as in Beijing, Rio de Janeiro and Wembley became a final and helped the conquest of the third star for the Argentine National Team. Real Madrid, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus.In short, 35 years of a legend who never gave up and who achieved glory.

Original source in Spanish