Soccerstarz – Angel Di María Figurine (Real Madrid)

Angel Fabian di Maria Hernandez is an Argentine footballer who currently plays as a winger for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and the Argentine national team. He is nicknamed El Angelito, Di Magia, El Flaco, El Pibito and Fideo, Spanish for noodle.

Real Madrid 2011-12 season
During the start of the 2011-2012 season, di Maria endured a tough series of matches as he struggled to adapt to the pace of the league following the summer break. As a result, di Maria's early performance for the season were mixed with moments of genuinely good play interspersed with moments of sheer madness by the Argentine. This point was well illustrated during Real Madrid's 1-0 defeat to Levante, a match which saw a clearly out of sorts di Maria commit a horror foul on Levante's Juanfran during the match. Di Maria caused the two teams to clash and an on-field incident ensued. After this, however, di Maria's performances improved, including opening up a significant gap at the top of the assists table. From October 2011, di Maria was being picked by Jose Mourinho ahead of Kaka and Mesut Ozil, a sign of his improving form.


On 27 November 2011, di Maria played 60 minutes in a league game against city rivals Atletico Madrid, in which he scored a goal for Real Madrid. Jose Mourinho's team won the game 4-1. On December 3, 2011, Di Maria scored Real's first goal from a sharp angle in a 0-3 defeat of Sporting de Gijon in the La Liga.

Playing style
Di Maria is renowned for his ability to assist goals from his left-wing position, assisting 20 goals in his first Real Madrid season alone. He is known as a quick player and a very good dribbler. In the national team he has occasionally taken on a more defensively responsible role. In the beginning of his European career, Di Maria was not famous for his goal scoring, but improved this aspect of his game, scoring six goals in his debut La Liga season.