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Real Madrid’s Angel Di Maria £59.7m transfer to Manchester United is most likely going to be confirmed today as we await one of the biggest transfers of this summer window. Di Maria has been a key figure at Madrid, however, the addition of new players in Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez unsettled the Argentinean. Looking back into Di Maria’s life, we churn out seven things about him that you might not know about:
#1 Life before football
Angel Di Maria’s family were not the richest of the lot in La Ceramica. His parents worked at a coal yard, and were self-sufficient up to bare necessities with their meagre wage. In one instance, Di Maria recalled how hard his parents had to work so that they could earn enough money to buy their son a pair of football boots.
“It’s something I will always keep inside me. For me to play football and have boots meant my two sisters went without,” he said in an interview. “It was a horrible existence and when the weather was bad all they had was a metal roof over their heads. But both me and my sisters worked at the coal yard as well. I started aged 10 and by the time I was 15 I was helping with deliveries. It was hard work.”
Di Maria’s father, Miguel, was footballer himself, and dreamt of playing for his favourite club River Plate one day. He was a player in the reserve team there. However, the dream was shortlived after he underwent a career-ending knee injury even before he made his professional debut. He was forced to work at the coal yard for the next 16 years, eventually giving it up only after his son was transferred to Benfica.
“I often think how lucky I am to have football. I was a terrible student. If I didn’t have football I would have continued to work in the coal yard. What else would I have done?”
“I was heartbroken for my father because he could have played football but got a serious knee injury playing for River Plate reserves. My mother always reminds me how lucky I am and that I am doing what my father wanted to do, I am living his dream,” he remembers.
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#2 Angel Di Maria once fell into a well, and survived
The winger is on the verge of completing his move to Manchester United, but did you know that he was very close to a near-death experience. It was the time when the Di Maria family had just moved to a new home when the house infrastructure started falling apart. Di Maria was only a year old then, and was on his baby walker.
“My mother always recalls the story,” Di Maria recalls the incident. “I was a year old and had a baby walker and went outside and fell into a well. I was lucky because they saved me in time otherwise I wouldn’t be here to talk about it.”
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#3 Angel Di Maria\'s first transfer fee were 35 footballs
Before his transfer to Real Madrid in the summer transfer window in 2010, Angel Di Maria for a €25 million, plus €11 million in, Angel di Maria was already a winger who had made a name for himself in Portugal and Argentina.
Starting his young career at Rosario Central which is one of the oldest teams in Argentina, he was first spotted by a scout from Rosaria while he was playing for his local club Torito.
“They drove a hard bargain to release me,” revealed Di Maria in an interview to RealMadridTV in 2011. “The transfer fee was 35 footballs. That probably puts into perspective where I was and how much it took to get me. Mind you, I was very young, about four so I’m not sure it really counts.”
He’s a winger who started his career in one of the most prolific youth academies in Argentine football, Rosario Central. Ángel’s cultured left foot made him stand out from the beginning of his career and he was soon wanted by many major clubs.
At the age of just 17, he made his debut for Rosario Central and from that moment onwards his career really took off and has led him all the way to the top at Real Madrid. During his spell at Benfica, he won his first important honours and was also voted the best player in the Portuguese league.
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#4 It was his doctor who suggested him to be a footballer
Angel Di Maria was what you could call a real-life Butter Fingers, often getting into troubles for breaking things when he was young. Sceptical about what was going on with her son, Diana took Angel to see a doctor when he was three-years old.
“My mother got tired of me breaking everything in the house so she took me to see a doctor when I was three,” he recalls. “I was running around the examination room breaking everything. The doctor just said ‘Sign him up for a sport’ and that is where my career began.”
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#5 The meaning behind Di Maria\'s tattoo
Before leaving for Benfica in 2007, Angel Di Maria and six of his best friends had the phrase ‘Nacer en El Perdriel fué y será lo mejor que me pasó en la vida’ tattooed in his left forearm.
The literal translation of the phrase is: "To be born in El Perdriel was and will be the best thing that has ever happened to me in my life."
The tattoo was like a symbol for Di Maria and his friends, signifying that no matter where the seven of them would go, their roots will always be in the streets of Perdriel. Since Di Maria and his friends were young back then, 18 to be precise, it is said that some of their fathers had to join them to the tattoo parlour to sign consent forms.
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#6 Angel Di Maria in numbers
Real Madrid may have James Rodriguez as a viable alternative to Angel Di Maria, but they will definitely miss the Argentine’s work ethic. He was the connecting bridge between the Real Madrid attack and defend, constantly making runs up and down the pitch, winning balls, and creating chances.
He was transformed into a central attacking midfielder last season by Carlo Ancelotti, and boy did it bore fruits! He was the top assistant in La Liga last season, and even found the net on four occasions.
His role in the midfield saw him play both as a midfielder and a forward, switching positions with his blistering pace and dribbling ability.
A look at his statistics
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#7 Personal Accolades
Angel Di Maria who will now be a crucial member for Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United has earlier won leagues in both Spain and Portugal.
During his three-season long career at Benfica, Di Maria was involved in the club’s 32nd Primeira Liga winning campaign. He was the top assistant that season with 11 assists in the league, and was also chosen as the SJPF Player of the Month in April. Besides the league win that season, Benfica were also successful in retaining the Taça da Liga or the Portuguese League Cup for the second year in a row. He was also voted the best player in the Portuguese league.
His tenure at Real Madrid saw him win the La Liga once, in 2012 under then-boss Jose Mourinho. He was one of the most pivotal members of the Real Madrid squad that had triumphed in Lisbon, bringing home their much awaited La Decima. He was awarded the Man of the Match award in the final against Atletico Madrid. Apart from that, he has won the Copa del Rey twice, a UEFA Super Cup and the Spanish Super Cup.
Di Maria has represented Argentina at the highest level on 52 occasions, but is yet to win a major trophy with them. However, Argentina came pretty close to winning the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, if not only for Mario Gotze’s goal in the final. Di Maria’s performance in the tournament wasn’t overlooked as he was Di María was named on the 10-man shortlist for FIFA's Golden Ball award for the tournament's best player.
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