How does Argentina get to the match against the Netherlands?
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(CNN Spanish) --
Rodrigo De Paul is one of the symbols of the Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni's cycle.
His arrival in the national team in 2019 was surprising for some and he was part of the renewal made by the new coach after the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
De Paul, who is participating in Qatar in his first FIFA World Cup, gradually became one of the symbols of the albiceleste and Lionel Messi's right-hand man, to such an extent that, despite having been one of the players With Argentina's less performance in the first two games of the World Cup, Scaloni kept him among the headlines, as he did not with others such as Leandro Paredes, Cristian Romero, Lautaro Martínez, among others.
"Personally I think I went from low to high," De Paul said at a news conference before the match against Australia in the round of 16.
"I feel very good and the coaching staff gives me a lot of confidence. Playing 90 minutes is very important to me."
De Paul, 28, has played in all four of Argentina's matches in Qatar and has accumulated 48 caps for the senior team, scoring twice since making his debut for the Albiceleste in October 2018 in a friendly match between Argentina and Iran.
That day was his first presentation when Argentina won by a 4-0 win.
This would be the road and the crossings of Argentina until the final of the World Cup in Qatar 2022
Argentina striker Lionel Messi and Argentina midfielder Rodrigo De Paul celebrate after winning the Qatar 2022 World Cup Round of 16 football match between Argentina and Australia at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al-Rayyan, west of Doha . December 3, 2022. (Photo by JUAN MABROMATA/AFP)
From Racing to Atlético de Madrid
Rodrigo de Paul was born in Sarandí, Buenos Aires province, in May 1994. He started playing soccer at a very young age when he joined Racing Club at the age of eight.
His professional debut took place in 2013, and after two seasons at the Avellaneda club he began his journey through international soccer.
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Valencia FC of Spain signed him and he played for a couple of seasons before returning to Racing.
Italy would be his second international destination: Udinese acquired him to play in Serie A of Italian football in 2016, where he was for five seasons.
De Paul would return to Spanish football in 2021, this time to join Atlético de Madrid, a club with which he has a contract until June 2026. De Paul currently has a market value of around 35 million euros, according to TransferMarkt.
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Rodrigo de Paul in an Atletico de Madrid match during a UEFA Champions League and Bayer Munich match in October 2022. (Credit: Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)
Returning to the Argentina team, De Paul is part of a generation of historic players who won the Copa América in 2021 (two years earlier, he had been in the team that came third in that South American championship).
Additionally, in 2022 Argentina won the 2022 Copa Finalissima, a single match pitting the European soccer champions against their South American counterparts.
Argentina beat Italy 3-0.
The conversation about his personal life before Qatar
Apart from his football career, De Paul has made some headlines for controversies related to his personal life.
Months before going to the World Cup, a controversy broke out that according to the Argentine media was related to a separation demand from his ex-partner Camila Homs, and an alleged breach of alimony quota by De Paul.
The soccer player told Argentina's Canal América that his separation from Homs was "on good terms" and said that there was an "economic issue" involved.
"We both decided to take it to someone who knows about the issue and always for this, so as not to continue generating conflict between us. In the end, the most important thing is our children and we wanted to maintain a good relationship, especially for them," De Paul told the Argentine media. .
Claudio Fabián Tapia, president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), even intervened in this controversy before the start of the World Cup.
Tapia told Urbana Play from Argentina that an impediment to going to the World Cup was having a "criminal complaint with a pending conviction or something about gender", and ruled out, at that time, that De Paul would have difficulties in case of being summoned by Scaloni .
"They are personal issues in which they are both great, I know Camila, I know him and surely for the good of their children what they have to prioritize... is the children," Tapia said in July 2022. " I know the feeling they have, more towards their children."
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De Paul became Messi's right hand in the Argentina team.
(Credit: JUAN MABROMATA/AFP via Getty Images)
Later, Rodrigo De Paul's lawyer, Mariana Gallego, clarified the midfielder's situation on CNN Radio and ruled out the possibility that he could miss the World Cup in Qatar due to the eventual claim by Homs.
“Not only are there no debts, but there is no claim.
He is a father who does not have a food claim.
What "Chiqui" Tapia said was clear: in the cases in which this happened, it could be in danger.
It is not the case of Rodrigo Paul.
There is not even a food claim,” Gallego said.
“On the same day of the failed session, it was De Paul who started fixing the alimony in Camila's account… They are in contact and he was present in any way he could, entrusting all the expenses for his son Bautista's birthday.
They are on good terms."
When he was summoned by Scaloni, De Paul celebrated it with a message on his social networks: "I can't describe what it feels like to be able to represent my country in a World Cup, but I can tell you that we will leave our souls so that each Argentine feels proud of how we will carry our flag".
The dream came true.
I can't describe what it feels like to be able to represent my country in a world cup, but I can tell you that we will leave our souls so that every Argentine can feel proud of how we will carry our flag 🥹💙🤍.
Now yes, MORE TOGETHER THAN EVER.
pic.twitter.com/sJXu7bBsMa
— Rodrigo de Paul (@rodridepaul) November 11, 2022
The footballer currently has a relationship with the singer Tini Stoessel, who traveled to Qatar to support the team and has celebrated De Paul in networks.
His performance in the World Cup
Before the game with the Netherlands for the quarterfinals, De Paul had played 4 games, all starting.
The midfielder made 391 passes, without assists at the moment, with a high effectiveness: 87%.
He has only had two shots, one of them on target.
-- With information from Juan Pablo Elverdin and Sebastián Jiménez of CNN en Español.
Rodrigo de PaulArgentina national team