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Argentina great Ángel Di María has said he continues to take medication to cope with the disappointment and pressure of losing three straight finals with his national team.
While the Benfica winger won the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Copa América at the end of his Argentina career, he had previously lost two Copa América finals and the 2014 FIFA World Cup in a three-year span.
“Because of that I’m still taking the meds,” Di María told Infobae as reported in ESPN.”I was able to reduce it [dosage]. I’m much better, but that’s something a little addictive, too … These are things that stay with you, that mark you.”
Di María was one of the heroes after scoring the only goal against Brazil in the Copa América final in 2021 and the first one for his team in the win over France at the 2022 World Cup final.
He said he feels sorry for many of his former Argentina teammates that didn’t experience title glory.
“Who remembers the boys that reached that World Cup final and didn’t win?” he said. “Very few, it seems unfair to me. Who is talking about those kids? Nobody. Very few can tell you how they played. I said it a lot of times when we became world champions, when we won the Copa América, I always said that those trophies were also [thanks] to the previous generation.”
Despite still playing at a competitive level, Di María, 37, retired from international duty last summer and has no regrets.
The former Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain player scored 31 goals in 145 appearances for the Albiceleste.
“I was there for 16 years [with the national team] and it is as if I had been in a club,” Di María said. “It’s difficult, but I think I made the right decision. It’s obvious that it tempts me because it’s the national team. I achieved everything I wanted to achieve. I left the way I wanted to leave … “I hope one day I can be there again, in a different role.”