Di Maria: I Retired From International Football In The Best Way!

Argentina's Angel Di Maria has said he always dreamed of ending his international career after winning the 2024 Copa America. Argentina won the Copa America for the second time in a row and the 16th time in their history after beating Colombia 1-0 in the final of the continental competition hosted by the United States. "It was written, this is how I always dreamed that we would win this tournament and that I would retire this way," Di Maria said in tears in comments published on the Argentine Football Association's official website. "I have so many beautiful feelings that I can't describe. I will be forever grateful to this generation that made me achieve things that I thought were many," he added. Angel was crying with joy, as this was Di Maria's seventh final with the national team, and he was crowned with his fourth consecutive international title: the 2021 Copa America, the 2022 Finalissima, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and the 2024 Copa America. Di Maria, who was born on February 14, 1988, always dreamed of achieving success in professional football. But everything he achieved with the Argentine national team was difficult to imagine. Di Maria made his debut with the Argentine national team on September 6, 2008 against Paraguay in a qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup. That match was the beginning of an exceptional career that included 154 international matches over 16 years, and Di Maria is the third most capped player with the Argentine national team, behind Lionel Messi (186) and behind Javier Mascherano (147). "There is nothing better than to end my career in this way," Di Maria said of his career. "It is not easy to reach finals and win them. I know this because I have experienced losing finals. And now this is happening: at a stage when this had to happen."