World Cup 2018: Angel Di Maria reveals Real Madrid tried to stop him playing for Argentina in the 2014 final
Los Blancos were looking to sell Di Maria and he claims they wrote a letter in the hope of ensuring he would not make an injury worse
ANGEL DI MARIA has revealed Real Madrid tried to stop him playing in the 2014 World Cup final.
Di Mariawas carrying a knock in the build-up to the Germany defeat and Los Blancos was preparing to him once the winger was finished with duties in Brazil.
Real had lined up a move for James Rodriguez - who starred at the tournament and won the Golden Boot by netting six goals - and wanted to fund a £63million deal for the Colombian by selling Di Maria.
Di Maria was having injections in his thigh after picking up a knock in the quarter-final win over Nigeria.
Speaking to The Players' Tribune, Di Maria explained his reaction when Argentina team doctor Daniel Martinez came to him clutching a letter from his club.
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"I immediately knew what was happening.
"Everybody had heard the rumours that Real wanted to sign James Rodriguez after the World Cup, and I knew that they were going to sell me to make room for him.
"So they didn't want their asset to be damaged. It was that simple.
"That's the business of football that people do not always see.
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"I didn't even open it. I just ripped it into pieces and said, 'throw it away, the one who decides here is me'.
Ultimately, Di Maria did not play in the final as the Albiceleste lost 1-0 to an extra-time strike from Germany playmaker Mario Gotze.
Di Maria, now playing for Paris Saint-Germain, then moved to Manchester United for £59.7m in late August of that summer.
The 30-year-old added: "I sincerely wanted to play that day even if it ended my career.
"But I also didn't want to make things complicated for our team. So I woke up early that morning and went to see our manager, (Alejandro) Sabella.
"We had a very close relationship, so if I told him that I wanted to start, I knew that he would feel the pressure to put me in. "I told him sincerely, with my hand on my heart, that he should put in the player that he felt he had to put in.
"When we had our team talk before the match, Sabella announced that Enzo Perez was going to start, because he was 100 percent healthy. I was at peace with that decision."
Di Maria and Argentina need a win against Nigeria tonight to get out of Group D and give themselves any chance of going one better than they did four years ago.