Angel Di Maria claims he would swap all of his club trophies, including the Champions League win with Real Madrid, for a major title with Argentina.
The 27-year-old inspired Madrid to La Decima (their 10th European Cup crown) with a man of the match performance in the final against Atletico in Lisbon last May, but says winning a major title with his national side would mean much more.
“I honestly think I would swap all that I have won in my career to win something with the Argentine national team,” he told the Copa America official site in an exclusive interview.
Di Maria won the Under-20 World Cup with the Albiceleste in 2007 and scored the winning goal to claim the gold medal for Argentina’s Under-23 team at the Beijing Olympics the following year, but is without a title for the senior side.
“We were just a step away and we felt it was almost ours,” he said in reference to last year’s World Cup final defeat against Germany. “And I think there can be nothing more special than winning something with the shirt of your national team.
“There is no comparison. Everything you can win with your club is special, it’s spectacular. Winning the Champions League was the best thing that has happened to me at a club, the best thing that happened to me in my life. But I don’t think anything can compare to winning something with your country.
“Because it’s your country, because you feel the shirt, you feel the support of a country behind you. We experienced that in Brazil. Every time we went out on to the pitch, we knew there were 40 million Argentines behind us, millions of Argentines in Brazil sleeping on streets, sleeping in camper vans. And you feel that.
“There were millions of Argentines who didn’t have tickets, but they didn’t care. They were there to support us and they left behind millions of things to come and see the Selección, come and watch us play and support us. So that’s why there is no comparison.”
Di Maria says Argentina’s World Cup final appearance in Brazil last year was his happiest moment, even though he ended up missing the game through injury and Alejandro Sabella’s side lost to Germany in extra-time.
“It was my happiest moment,” he said. “That was the most special thing that has happened to me. We weren’t able to win, but we gave everything on the pitch – and we made history.
“Argentina were back in a World Cup final. We always said we wanted to become legends and we couldn’t do it. But that stays with us.”
The attacker admits missing the Rio showpiece was frustrating for him personally – as well as the result – but believes people’s perception of him as a player changed due to his performance at the World Cup.
“It is difficult to explain because it was something special to have been there and awful to not have played,” he said. “I tried everything I could to play in that game, but it was the coach’s decision and he decided it was better for me and for everyone.
“We played a great game and we were unlucky, but I repeat: we made history. We weren’t able to become legends, but we gave a lot of joy to the Argentines. The Angel Di Maria from before the World Cup and after the World Cup changed so much because we gave everything we had on the pitch. Now we will keep trying to win a title.”
Di Maria is currently lining up alongside close friend and fellow Rosario native Lionel Messi for Argentina at the Copa America in Chile and the 27-year-old admits playing with both the Barcelona forward and Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo is another one of his career highlights.
“I have no words to describe that,” he said. “I have played with the two best in the world – Leo and Cristiano. I was lucky enough to play with the two players who are still fighting to be the best in the world. That’s something very few have had. Almost nobody. So that makes me very happy.”
And on his close relationship with Messi, he added: “My fiendship with Leo is very good and it makes me very happy to wear the same shirt as the best player in the world, to be able to play alongside him and be his friend. It is something I will never forget.”
Between 2010 and 2014, Di Maria and Messi were rivals at club level as Barca and Madrid met time after time in the Clasico, but the Manchester United winger admits he is happier having Leo on his own team.
“It is definitely better that way,” he said. “Having him as a rival is complicated. You see game after game that it is impossible to take the ball off him, impossible to stop him. There are no words to decsribe his talent.
“For me, and as others have said, he is from another planet.”
