Ángel Di María life and biography

Ángel Fabián di María (born 14 February 1988 in Rosario, Argentina) is an Argentine footballer who currently plays as a left winger for Liga Sagres club Benfica.

Club career

Di María started his professional football career in 2005 when he made his début 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 afterward, he changed his mind and turned down the offer. After putting up a remarkable performance in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, playing for Argentina, Di María caught the eye of several international teams and in the end, Benfica signed him.

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.

On 23 October 2008, Di María gave Benfica the lead in the UEFA Cup match against Hertha BSC. The match eventually ended with a 1–1 draw, meaning that Benfica are yet to win in Germany after 16 attempts.

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

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

It has been reported that on May 4, 2010, Real Madrid successfully completed the signing of Di María for a Portuguese record breaking transfer fee of €34,5 million.

On 27 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.

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.

He is a member of the senior Argentina squad which is playing this year at the World Cup 2010, in South Africa.

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