Di Maria claims ex-club Real put pressure on Argentina not to play him in WC final

Manchester United's record signing Angel Di Maria has claimed that his former club Real Madrid had pressurised his national side Argentina not to play him in the FIFA World Cup final in Brazil.

Di Maria joined Manchester United from Real last month for a British record fee of 59.7 million pounds with the Spanish club's president Florentino Perez saying that the winger's demands for a new contract were too steep.

Di Maria said that there was a letter from Real that arrived in the morning of the final match day and Argentina was to due to play in the afternoon, adding that it was meant for putting ice on his leg to be in the final, suggesting that the club did not want him to aggravate a leg injury, Sport24 reported.

The winger said that he tore up the letter as soon as it was given to him and didn't take any notice of it, adding that he didn't care what might happen, but it was coach Alejandro Sabella's decision.

Di Maria said that he did not want to make any demands of Sabella but also didn't want to leave the team a man short five minutes from a very important match.

Di Maria, whose goal gave Argentina a 1-0 win over Switzerland in the last 16, suffered a leg muscle injury during the 1-0 quarterfinal win over Belgium and took no further part in the tournament.

Argentina lost the final 1-0 after extra time to Germany at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro on July 13, the report added.