Angel Di Maria rues missed opportunity after Argentina lose Copa America final
Angel di Maria has expressed his disappointment at seeing Argentina miss out on the Copa America trophy, Goal reported. La Albiceleste were beaten on penalties by Chile who won South America’s top prize for the first time in their history, in front of an ecstatic home crowd.
The Manchester United winger was in scintillating form heading into the final but was forced off with a suspected hamstring injury in the final before the half-hour mark. He could only look on helplessly as Argentina finished second best for the second successive year.
After losing out to Germany in the final of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which Di Maria sat out with an injury, his teammates were hopeful of turning around their fortunes this time.
That was not to be the case however as misses by Gonzalo Higuain and Ever Banega in the penalty shootout handed Chile victory. Speaking to reporters after the match, Di Maria felt that Argentina had missed a golden opportunity to end their 22-year wait for silverware.
We did not achieve our objective: Di Maria
“Again it was decided in a matter of seconds, and again we could not achieve our objective, “Di Maria told reporters after the match, as reported by Goal.
Speaking after the match, national team manager Gerardo Martino had said, “We controlled their players in midfield. If you ask me about today’s game, I believe Argentina should have won,” the former Barcelona manager told the Copa America official website.
Di Maria seconded his manager‘s views that Argentina were the better side in the final saying, “We did everything to win.”
The 27-year-old rued the fact they couldn’t capitalise on the advantage, with Higuain’s miss late in the game standing out. The Napoli forward could only fire into the side-netting after a slightly over-hit pass from Ezequiel Lavezzi, two minutes into time added on.
“We had many chances. Near the end Pipita (Higuain) nearly got a goal,” Di Maria told the reporters, according to Goal, while he also felt his United teammate Marcos Rojo should have been awarded a penalty.
The former Real Madrid winger had a disappointing debut season in England after moving in the summer, but his Copa America exploits had renewed hopes of a much improved Di Maria on show next season. He did not elaborate further on his injury, but United will be hoping that the club record signing does not face an extended spell on the sidelines, with training for the new season set to start next week.