CELEBRITY
BITTER HATRED! DI MARIA CHANGES TV CHANNEL WHEN MAN UTD PLAY
Angel Di Maria who scored the goal for Argentina that denied Nigeria the Beijing 2008 Olympic gold medal in football is extremely bitter about Manchester United. He was one of the more incredible transfer rumours to circulate during the football shutdown came from Italy last month.
Daily Mail reports that one media outlet suggested that Angel Di Maria could be on his way back to Manchester United from Paris Saint-Germain as part of a swap deal involving Paul Pogba.
Are they mad? Short of being dragged back to Old Trafford at gunpoint, Di Maria is about the last player you would expect to see wearing a United shirt again.
This is a man who made no effort to hide his dislike for the club long before his wife weighed into the debate spectacularly in a Spanish TV show on Wednesday morning.
‘I begged Angel, any place but England,’ said Jorgelina Cardoso, recalling Di Maria’s £59.7million move from Real Madrid to United in 2014. ‘One year later we were in Manchester – s***!’
Ms Cardoso lambasted the ‘disgusting’ food, English ‘dolls’ wearing too much make-up, and the ‘weird’ folk of Manchester. ‘You are walking and you don’t know if they are going to kill you or not,’ she claimed.
Her feelings on that last point were no doubt fuelled by an attempted burglary at their luxury home in Prestbury five months after Di Maria joined United when raiders tried to force their way into the rear of the property using scaffold poles.
The Argentine and his family moved into the Lowry Hotel and never returned to the house. It was a deeply unsettling experience from which they never quite recovered. That summer he joined PSG for £44.3m with United taking a £16m hit on what had been the biggest transfer in the history of British football.
There was much more to Di Maria’s failure to settle in England than issues off the pitch, however.
For a start, he had no wish to be at Old Trafford in the first place, insisting that he had effectively been forced out of Real Madrid after helping the club win a 10th European Cup.
‘My intention was always to stay at Real,’ he said later. ‘After winning La Decima, I went to the World Cup with the hope of receiving the nod from the directors, which never came.
‘Many lies were spoken. They always wanted to attribute a desire to leave the club, but it was not true. I ended up going to United.’
Life at Old Trafford started well with Di Maria scoring three goals in his first five games. But he did not agree with Louis van Gaal’s decision to move him from the wing to a more central position where he found himself with his back to goal and less room to run.
‘There were problems with the coach at the time,’ he said. ‘I started a game in one position and the next game in another. I scored goals playing in one position then suddenly the next game I was picked to play in a different position. This didn’t help me settle.
‘It’s up to the manager where and how every player should play, but I think every player should be comfortable in that position.
‘I’m very happy at PSG and it wasn’t the case over there. It’s more that they didn’t let me settle properly than I couldn’t settle.’
Di Maria’s only other goal after that opening flurry was against Yeovil Town in the FA Cup. In total, he scored just four times in 32 appearances. Figures that hardly justified his transfer fee.
After being shown a second yellow card for shoving referee Michael Oliver during a FA Cup defeat to Arsenal in January, he made just one more start on the final day of the season against Hull, lasting just 23 minutes.
No-one was shocked to see his stay brought to an end after one season, but it’s the depth of bad feeling towards his old club that is perhaps most surprising.
Di Maria’s teammate at PSG, Marcin Bulka, revealed that the 32-year-old Argentine ‘hates’ United so much that he insists on changing the channel if they are playing on television.
That antipathy was apparent when Di Maria returned to Old Trafford for the first time last season and set up both goals as PSG took a 2-0 lead that was spectacularly overturned in Paris.
He was the target for abuse, and at one point a beer bottle, from United fans and appeared to mouth obscenities at them after the opening goal.
So his wife’s comments are perhaps to be expected, even though her timing is a little peculiar. Maybe she’s heard those transfer rumours as well.
A court in Argentina has heard fresh testimony in the ongoing trial over the death of football legend Diego Maradona, with a psychologist telling judges that the late icon suffered from bipolar disorder, narcissistic traits and required strict abstinence from alcohol.
Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition marked by extreme mood swings ranging from periods of intense emotional “highs” (mania) to deep “lows” (depression).
Carlos Díaz, 34, one of seven medical professionals charged in connection with Maradona’s death, appeared before the court in Buenos Aires on Thursday, where he faces a charge of manslaughter with reckless intent for allegedly prescribing inappropriate medication.
According to Argentine media reports, Díaz told the court that Maradona’s mental health condition was complex and deeply intertwined with substance dependency.
“There was bipolar disorder and narcissism,” Díaz was quoted as saying. “He could bring a country to its knees, but one glass of alcohol could bring him to his knees.”
Díaz said he first met the former Argentina captain on October 26, 2020 — less than a month before his death — and was alarmed by Maradona’s condition. He recalled seeing the football great drinking wine at the time, an image he said reminded him of his late father, who struggled with alcoholism.
The psychologist told the court that he believed Maradona was willing to change his lifestyle and that his treatment approach was centred on complete abstinence from alcohol. He added that toxicology findings indicated the football legend had gone 23 days without drug use before his death.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in football history, Maradona enjoyed a glittering career with clubs such as Boca Juniors, FC Barcelona and SSC Napoli, and famously captained Argentina to victory at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at the age of 60, following surgery for a subdural hematoma. His death shocked the football world and prompted widespread mourning across Argentina and beyond.
The trial is seeking to determine whether members of his medical and care team bear criminal responsibility for his death, with prosecutors alleging negligence in his treatment and supervision during his final days.
Also testifying on Thursday was neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, another of the defendants. He told the court that Maradona’s home-based care was appropriate under the circumstances and was never intended to function as an intensive-care unit.
The case continues to draw intense public interest in Argentina, where Maradona remains a revered national figure, even as questions persist over the circumstances surrounding his final days.
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Every week, hundreds of people line up to fill a plastic container with food in an unlikely place: the humble home where Argentine soccer legend Diego Armando Maradona was born.
The house in Villa Fiorito, a poor neighbourhood on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, no longer belongs to the family of Maradona, who died in 2020 after a heart attack. Still, for the last month, its current owner has lent its dirt yard to a group of volunteers who light a grill and cook for neighbours.
Last Thursday, Maria Torres stirred a stew in two large pots while several others peeled potatoes and chopped pieces of chicken. A mural painted on the house’s facade depicts the soccer player next to the words, “The house of god.”
A man cooks stew for residents of the working-class neighbourhood of Villa Fiorito at a soup kitchen set up in the house where late soccer legend Diego Armando Maradona spent his early childhood, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 26, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Miguel Lo Bianco
Poverty has been trending downward in Argentina, with official statistics released on Tuesday showing it dropping to 28.2% of the country’s population in the second half of 2025 from 52.9% in the first half of 2024, when President Javier Milei sharply devalued the peso and inflation spiked.
While there has been a “very important drop” in poverty, Argentina needs to see more GDP growth in labour-intensive sectors, such as mining, as opposed to capital-intensive sectors, such as agriculture, said Eduardo Donza, a sociologist at the Catholic University of Argentina.
Volunteers chop chicken before cooking a stew for residents of the working-class neighbourhood of Villa Fiorito at a soup kitchen set up in the house where late soccer legend Diego Armando Maradona spent his early childhood, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 26, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Miguel Lo Bianco
The drop in the poverty rate has followed a substantial drop in monthly inflation, from double digits when Milei took office to 2.9% in February.
A man cooks stew for residents of the working-class neighbourhood of Villa Fiorito at a soup kitchen set up in the house where late soccer legend Diego Armando Maradona spent his early childhood, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 26, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Miguel Lo Bianco
However, Milei’s austerity measures have sharply diminished the public sector workforce, and many say they have lost purchasing power as the government has cut transportation and energy subsidies.
Volunteers chop chicken before cooking a stew for residents of the working-class neighbourhood of Villa Fiorito at a soup kitchen set up in the house where late soccer legend Diego Armando Maradona spent his early childhood, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 26, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Miguel Lo Bianco
Leonardo Fabian Alvarez, a pastor who runs the makeshift soup kitchen, said he has seen the demand for food in Villa Fiorito and other neighbourhoods grow as small factories have closed. Deregulation and a stronger peso have led to cheaper imports under Milei.
“People obviously lost their jobs,” he said, adding that “they come to the line, pick up food, take what we give them.”
Argentina declared the home of Maradona a National Historic Site in 2021.
-Reuters
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The legacy of Brazilian football legend Pelé has taken a new turn after Neymar Santos Sr, father of Brazil star Neymar Jr, confirmed the acquisition of the commercial rights to Pelé’s name and image through his agency, NR Sports.
Speaking at the Pelé Museum in Santos, Brazil, Neymar Sr said the deal marks a new chapter for one of the most iconic brands in global sport.
“We are proud. I think it’s a very strong brand. We want to strengthen its identity and adapt it to the current era,” he said, describing the project as deeply emotional and nationally significant.
Although financial details were not officially disclosed, Brazilian media estimate the acquisition at around $18 million. The rights had previously belonged to US-based company Sport 10, which many in Brazil accused of underdeveloping a national treasure.
A ‘Repatriation’ of Pelé’s Legacy
NR Sports described the agreement as a “repatriation” of Pelé’s brand—bringing back to Brazil “one of the greatest symbols in the history of world sport.”
Pelé’s daughter, Flavia, attended the announcement and welcomed the move, saying the family had tried—and failed—to reacquire the rights after Pelé’s death in 2022.
“There are no words to describe the emotion of bringing back a brand that embodies soul, humanity, and love. It’s priceless,” she told AFP.
The unveiling was accompanied by an emotional tribute at the Pelé Museum, which erected a massive green screen with Pelé’s iconic logo. A video shared on Pelé’s and NR Sports’ official accounts celebrated the “universal language” of Brazilian football, showing some of the King’s most memorable goals from his World Cup triumphs in 1958, 1962, and 1970.
Neymar Jr: ‘Pelé Was Born to Change Everything’
Neymar Jr, who recently returned to Pelé’s former club Santos and has surpassed the King as Brazil’s all-time top scorer, featured in a promotional video congratulating his father’s company.
“Some are born to play, others are born to change the game. Pelé was born to change everything,” the 33-year-old forward said. “Pelé never stopped being one of us, and now he is officially part of Brazil, again and forever.”
A New Era for an Underused Global Brand
For years, Pelé’s image rights were more prominently exploited abroad than at home—a situation that drew criticism from the family and Brazilian football circles. The new deal is expected to revitalise the Pelé brand through modern marketing, partnerships, and heritage initiatives anchored in Brazil.
“This is the beginning of a motivating project for us. We are very moved,” Neymar Sr added.
Pelé, who died in December 2022 at age 82, remains an enduring symbol in Santos, São Paulo state, where he played from 1956 to 1974 and where thousands still visit his mausoleum.
With the rights now back in Brazilian hands, NR Sports says the goal is clear: preserve, expand, and enrich the legacy of the King of Football for generations to come.
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