Ángel Fabián di María (born 14 February 1988 in Rosario, Argentina) is an Argentine footballer who currently plays as a left winger for Spanish club Real Madrid in the Spanish Liga.[2] Di María also holds an Italian passport.[3]

Club career

Rosario Central

Di María started his professional football career in 2005 when he made his debut for Rosario Central. In January 2007, he had an opportunity to play in the Russian Premier League when Rubin Kazan offered him a contract. At first, he agreed, but soon afterwards, he changed his mind and turned down the offer.[4] After putting up a remarkable performance in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, playing for Argentina, di María caught the eye of several European teams and in the end, Benfica signed him.

Benfica

Ángel di María was transferred to Portuguese side Benfica in July 2007. Benfica paid Rosario Central €6 million for 80% of his sports rights. Later, in August 2008, the Portuguese club paid an extra €2 million for the remaining 20%, setting his transfer at a final value of €8 million.[citation needed]

So highly regarded was di María by Benfica that team president Luís Filipe Vieira, when presenting the young Argentine, told the club's supporters he had bought the perfect replacement for Benfica's departing captain, Simão, a talismanic figure for Benfica for over five seasons.

During the first months of his tenure in Lisbon, di María showed that he was not in the least weighed down by the expectations, and the fans quickly took to the exciting talent.

Di María signed a new deal with Benfica in October 2009, adding three more years to his current deal, which was to last until 30 June 2015 with a €40 million minimum fee release.[5] Later that month, he was backed by Diego Maradona to become "Argentina's next superstar."[6]

On 27 February 2010, di María scored his first hat trick in a classic 4–0 win against Leixões. The next day, he made the headlines as "Magic Tri María" of all sports newspaper in Portugal.[7]

Real Madrid

On 28 June 2010, Real Madrid C.F. posted on their website that they had come to terms with S.L. Benfica and said that Ángel di María will sign a six year contract. The transfer fee was a total of €25 million plus €11 million on incentives, as announced by the Portuguese Stock Exchange regulating entity.[8] On 7 July 2010 di María arrived to Madrid directly from Buenos Aires,[9] and passed the medical test on 8 July.[10]

He made his debut on 4 August 2010 in a friendly match against Club América which Real Madrid won 2–3.[11] On 22 August, di María scored his first goal in another friendly against Hércules, which Real Madrid won 1–3.[12] In the last match of preseason, 24 August, after an individual play described as "magic moment", he opened the score of the 2–0 win against Peñarol, for Trofeo Santiago Bernabéu.[13] His league debut came on 29 August, in a 0–0 draw against Mallorca.[14]

International career

In 2007, di María was picked to play for the Argentina Under-20 squad. He was capped for the 2007 South American Youth Championship in Paraguay. In 2007, he was called up for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada. They went on to win the tournament with di María scoring three goals in the process.

On 28 January 2008, di María and some of his U-20 teammates were called up for the Argentina squad for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He scored the extra-time game-winning goal on a pass from Lionel Messi in the 105th minute of his team's 2–1 quarter-final win over the Netherlands.

On 23 August, in perhaps the best moment of his career so far, di María scored the game-winner, a chip over the keeper from the edge of the area in the 57th minute of Argentina's 1–0 victory against Nigeria to capture their second straight Olympic Gold Medal in the final game of the Olympic tournament.[15]

On 24 May 2010, he scored his first goal for Argentina in a friendly against Canada. Di María was chosen as one of the 23 players for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. On 11 Aug 2010, he scored the first ever international goal at Dublin's new Aviva Stadium in a friendly against Ireland with Argentina winning 0-1.[16]

Honours

Club

Benfica

Portuguese Liga: 2009–10

Portuguese League Cup: 2008–09, 2009–10

Country

Argentina

FIFA U-20 World Cup: 2007

Summer Olympics: 2008