Alejandro Garnacho has faced criticism from Argentina teammate Angel Di Maria for copying Cristiano Ronaldo and not Lionel Messi.
Former Manchester United midfielder Angel Di Maria has called out Alejandro Garnacho for idolising Cristiano Ronaldo instead of Lionel Messi.
Di Maria is among the fortunate players who have had the privilege of sharing a dressing room with both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
It’s clear where Di Maria’s allegiance lies, as the Argentine notably omitted Ronaldo from his ‘all-time teammate XI’ in a recent interview.
Despite his allegiance to the Argentine national team, it appears that Garnacho, the United winger, holds the opposite view, with his admiration for Ronaldo well-known. The teenager even celebrated his first United goal in the Europa League by mimicking Ronaldo’s celebration alongside the 38-year-old.
.jpg)
Garnacho asking permission to copy Ronaldo’s celebration
Garnacho also marked one of the greatest Premier League goals of all time in ‘CR7 fashion’, as he performed the iconic ‘Siu’ celebration at Goodison Park after his spectacular bicycle kick.
Di Maria has voiced his concern regarding these celebrations, urging Garnacho to abandon his Ronaldo-inspired theatrics and instead adopt the style of their international teammate, Lionel Messi.
“The only thing I wouldn’t do is celebrate Cristiano. I would score the goal and I would do like Messi does. I’ll stick with that,” he told Argentine newspaper.
Despite his criticism, Di Maria spoke highly of the 19-year-old winger, expressing confidence in Garnacho’s potential for significant achievements in the future.
Di Maria is an important factor in helping Argentina win the 2022 World Cup
He is a very fast player, he has incredible ability. He is going to gain it with experience and coming to the National Team, it is a place where you learn a lot and continue to improve. It helped me a lot to grow technically in every way, it is spectacular,” Di Maria added.
“I think he will grow with experience as well. When I was young I wanted to make the play 30 times in the game. Over the years you realise that if you do it 10, but you do it better, it’s worth it.
“He has a lot of future, a very big future. It depends on him, on his head, to be able to handle it. I don’t have much to say, there’s a reason he’s playing for Manchester United,” The World Cup winner concluded.