Argentina’s Iffy World Cup Qualification Campaign Left Angel Di Maria Needing Psychological Help To Deal With Cruel Memes

Chris Wright

9th, February 2018

3 Comments

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Angel Di Maria has revealed that he sought psychological help after being upset by memes mocking the Argentinian national team’s struggle to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

A last-ditch victory over Ecuador on the final matchday saw the Albiceleste just about sneak themselves a spot in Russia, but that didn’t stop fans from haranguing them for a largely slapdash qualification campaign.

Unfortunately, it all got on top of Di Maria, who felt the need to seek professional assistance to deal with the cruel internet lampoonery.

Speaking to TyC Sport, the PSG forward admitted that he even considered retiring from international duty as a result:

The memes sent to the players of the national team hurt us a lot, and it makes you think a lot.

If you think about quitting (the national team), it’s because of that, because you see the family suffer.

To me it helped me a lot psychologist, to talk, to unburden.

Thanks to that I learned that behind a computer or cell phone is easy to laugh. My head is fine now.

Good on him. Some of the goading that footballers are faced with on a daily basis can be alarmingly vicious.

Di Maria had a mental health issue and he sought help for it. No snark here.

Posted in International football, Ligue 1, World Cup

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3 Comments

  1. awwwdiddums says:

    “I’m sad because someone on the internet made a captioned picture” is a ‘mental health issue’ now, is it?! What a joke! I think you’ve confused real depression with 21st century snowflake syndrome – it’s very common in people who don’t get everything their own way 24/7.

    ADM simply can’t handle something as utterly irrelevant as a criticizing meme somewhere on the internet. These overly-pampered cry babies have no problem with the adulation and riches and luxury lives of being a top player, but expect to have no negatives – then are shocked to find out a country that expects to win world cups might possibly say means things about their underperforming superstars when they struggle to qualify?!?

    Thank heavens his snowflake synd- sorry, “mental health issue” was ‘cured’ by someone with enough expertise to point out it’s just a picture on the internet, it probably wont kill you if you ignore and get on with your life like a normal person (or at least showed him where the delete button on his phone was, or helped him setup a wifi-free safe space where a few photos couldn’t hurt his feelings anymore).

    Can you imagine the likes of Rooney or Gerrard or Adams or Souness or Keane or Wise or Chopper Harris wanting to quit because somebody somewhere mocked them?! If the likes of Cyril Reggis and John Barnes could go out and play every week year after year despite what was hurled at them (often literally) I’m reasonably sure, in time, with enough love and support and prayers and gods good grace Angel Di Maria might, MIGHT just survive that time he once saw a meme……….

  2. Straight Dave says:

    Surely not the same Angel Di Maria that was such a resolute character and possessed huge amounts of testicular fortitude to turn around his uneven tenure at Man United and become one of the all-time greats for the club?! Oh wait..

  3. Jake says:

    Please note my disappointment that you did not include said memes in the body of this story.

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