Friday, 19 June 2015

Di Maria: I'd swap all my club trophies for a title with Argentina 


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."                                                                                 

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