PSG star, Angel Di Maria says his career could have been prematurely abbreviated in 2014.
The winger tore his muscle in the first half of Argentina’s quarter final game against Belgium at that year’s World Cup finals in Brazil and didn’t play again in the tournament as La Albiceleste lost 0-1 to Germany after extra time, in the final.
Di Maria who was on the books of 13-time European champions, Real Madrid at the time also revealed that Los Blancos had ordered him not to play in the finals in order not to aggravate the injury as they had planned to sell him in the summer.
“The only three who know the truth are doctor Daniel Martinez, [coach] Alejandro Sabella and me,” Di Maria told Telefe.
“I had a tear in the game against Belgium, I was at about 90 per cent. The leg wasn’t totally right, but I wanted to play and I didn’t care at all if I never played football again.
“It was one of the things I was told could happen, but for me it was the World Cup final, it was my final.
“I knew [Real Madrid] wanted to sell me, and so the letter arrived. Daniel told me it was from Real Madrid, but I didn’t even want to look at it and I tore it up.
“I went to talk to Alejandro and I told him, crying, that I wasn’t at 100%. I knew he loved me and that he wanted me to play, but he sought the best for the team.
“I was going to have an injection. I wanted to try. But after the meeting, he decided to play Enzo Perez in my place,” he recalled.
Di Maria then took the time to discuss the coronavirus pandemic which has claimed over 30,000 lives and infected more than 690,000 people across the world.
“What we are experiencing is crazy, we are not having a very good time. We have been isolated for 14 days. We have two more days at the request of the club.
“We’ve been out to the supermarket only once and returned, because we do not want to expose our daughters.
“Luckily with video calls we can talk [with family in Argentina] every day and that gives us more peace of mind,” the 32-year-old concluded.
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