Di María returns to the stadium of his most unforgettable goal for Argentina

Some stadiums stay stitched to a player's skin forever. Corinthians' home ground, in the Itaquera district of Sao Paulo, is one of those places for Angel Di Maria. And on Thursday, August 20, 2026, he will step onto that turf again, twelve years after leaving it as an eternal postcard of Argentine soccer.

Rosario Central will travel to face Corinthians in the second leg of the round of 16 of the Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores, and while the matchup itself is set, there's something like a reunion built into the setting. Because on that very field, Di Maria scored one of the most memorable goals of his career with the Argentina national team.

It happened on July 1, 2014, in the World Cup round of 16. Argentina couldn't find a way to break the deadlock against Switzerland, and the match was creeping toward penalties. Then, in the 118th minute, Fideo made his move: Rodrigo Palacio stole the ball, Lionel Messi spotted the opening and slipped it to Di Maria, who finished first time on the cross, no touch to set it up, for the agonizing 1-0. The celebration, hands forming a heart, Messi climbing onto his back, was etched in memory as one of the defining moments of that Argentina team.

Now, at 38, with everything already won in the sky blue and white, Di Maria will return to that same stadium wearing a different shirt: that of Rosario Central, the club where he chose to close out his career.

A tie that started in Rosario

The first leg ended 0-0 at the Gigante de Arroyito, a result that didn't quite sit right with Di Maria.

We deserved a lot more than what we ended up getting. I think over the 90 minutes we were the better side, we created a ton of chances, but that's soccer. We finished 0-0 and it'll be decided over there.Angel Di Maria

"Over there" is Sao Paulo. And in Sao Paulo, Di Maria doesn't arrive empty handed. Earlier in this same Libertadores campaign he already proved decisive: he scored from the penalty spot in a 3-0 win over Universidad Central de Venezuela on April 28 in Caracas, and struck again on May 19 at the Gigante de Arroyito, in a 4-0 rout of the same opponent.

A stadium born almost alongside his legend

Corinthians' stadium, popularly known as the "Itaquerao" or "Fielzao" and now officially named Neo Quimica Arena, was built as one of the host venues for the 2014 World Cup after Morumbi failed to meet FIFA's requirements. It ended up hosting nothing less than the tournament opener between Brazil and Croatia, and eight days after Di Maria's goal it was also the stage for the semifinal between Argentina and the Netherlands, drawing a record crowd of 63,267 spectators. Brazil, for that matter, holds more than just that one chapter for Fideo: at the Maracana, in the 2021 Copa America final, he chipped the ball over Ederson for the goal that gave Argentina a title it had been waiting for since 28 years earlier.

A different stadium, the same sky blue and white shirt in the memory, but this time wearing Central's blue and gold. The setting will be identical to that afternoon in 2014. What's changed is everything else: the tournament, the opponent, the years gone by. Di Maria returns to the place where he once turned anguish into celebration, now hoping to guide Rosario Central into the Libertadores quarterfinals.