Since retiring from the Argentina national team, Ángel Di María has been somewhat out of the spotlight. He hasn’t made headlines as often, but quietly, Di María has continued to do his job. Even in the twilight of his career, the World Cup winner keeps scoring and assisting to lead Benfica to victories.
Last night at the Club World Cup, Benfica secured a commanding 6-0 win over New Zealand’s Auckland City, with Di María scoring twice. He had already found the net in Benfica’s first match against Boca Juniors. Since joining Benfica, Di María has now scored three goals in two matches at the tournament.
Di María currently shares the top spot for the highest goal scorer in the Club World Cup. All three of his goals have come from penalties. Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala and Michael Olise are level with him, each also having three goals.
In their previous match, Auckland City had held Benfica scoreless until the very end of the first half, despite having conceded 10 goals to Bayern Munich. Benfica took the lead in added time of the first half with a penalty converted by Di María. Shortly after, the match was suspended due to a severe storm. After more than two hours, play resumed.
Following the storm, the second half became a goal fest. Auckland City conceded five goals in this period. At the 53rd minute, Vangelis Pavlidis scored Benfica’s second goal. Ten minutes later, Renato Sanches extended the lead to 3-0. Between the 76th and 78th minutes, Lisandro Barreiro netted two quick goals. In stoppage time, Di María converted a second penalty to complete Benfica’s sixth goal.
Having conceded 16 goals in two matches, Auckland City’s exit from the tournament was confirmed. Benfica currently sit second in Group C with 4 points from two matches, behind group leaders Bayern Munich, who have 6 points. Benfica’s next match is against Bayern, while Auckland City will face Boca Juniors.
After the match, Benfica coach Bruno Lage said, “This was the longest match of my career. Special thanks to our supporters, who stayed here for five hours cheering the team on. We played as well as we could. The intense heat made the match very difficult.”
In another Group C match, Boca Juniors fought hard against Bayern Munich but eventually lost 2-1, ending South American clubs’ unbeaten run in the Club World Cup.
At Hard Rock Stadium, Bayern took the lead in the 18th minute through Harry Kane. Boca equalized at 66 minutes with a goal from Miguel Merentiel, holding the 1-1 scoreline until the 83rd minute. However, Bayern’s Michael Olise scored a brilliant goal to seal the victory and secure their place in the round of 16.
