Correa in GOAL: “My strength is my mother, she has been fighting cancer for three years”

Angel Martin Belt Martinez (Rosario, Argentina, March 9, 1995), has reached his footballing maturity at Atlético de Madrid. ‘Angelito’ has just turned 28, joined Simeone’s team and brand new world champion with Argentina. He is present at GOAL at an important moment of the season. He feels grateful for the club, loved by the fans and valued by Simeone. A devotee of the Virgin of San Nicolás, Correa has a curious history with Pope Francis and considers his mother, who is battling cancer, to be the most important person in his life. She raised him and nine of his siblings before football gave them a better life. “she is a warriorsays Angel.

Atlético’s season is going strange. Everything seemed bad and now it looks like the team is finally taking off. How is it explained?

“The truth is I don’t think this has been the season we all wanted for sure. Neither the coaching staff nor the players nor the people. We wanted the season to be different. It hasn’t been like that and now what remains is to keep fighting to get as high as possible and get into the Champions League”.

It is Correa’s ninth season with Atleti and he is one of the fans’ most loved players. Do you feel this way, do you feel this way?

“People always make me feel loved. Me and my teammates. I feel that unconditional love from the people, they always push us to win the games. What characterizes us atléticos is without a doubt being strong at home and with our fans. Letting us get the best out of ourselves to win the games”

“I came to Atleti as a child, Simeone helped me grow as a player and as a person”

simeon. He is a key figure in his career and has just gone down in history…

“The truth is that what Simeone has achieved is incredible. The record he broke as a coach with the most appearances in the history of Atleti. Nowadays in football it is difficult for a player or coach to spend so much time in a club. I have It’s very clear that he’s a great coach and Cholo shows that year after year My relationship with him is the same one I have with all my teammates It’s true it’s not easy because I have many seasons and I came I came to Atleti as a child, when I was only 18 years old. Simeone has helped me grow as a player and as a person over the years. I am very grateful to him”.

OBJECTIVE – Atletico Madrid

“My strength is my mother, she has been fighting cancer for three years, it fills me with pride”

He had a very difficult childhood. He lost his father, grew up in a rough neighborhood like ‘Las Flores’ and football took him out of poverty. He always repeats that his mother is the most important person in his life. Because?

“My mother is the most important person in my life. Without a doubt. Both my mother and my daughters are very important. My whole family. Our strength is our Marcela, my mother. Although she has been battling cancer for three years now, continue to us, fighting this disease, fighting every day. My mother fills me with pride and we fill her with strength so she can live.”

In your family they are very Christian, but is what is said about Pope Francis correct?

“(Laughter) Yes, Pope Francis… He was just in the lower ranks of San Lorenzo. They were going to inaugurate a little chapel there. A little church. Then Francisco arrived and I took communion with him. After two years, it turned out that he was elected pope. But yes, together with other colleagues from the neighborhood, I took communion with Francisco. I have a photo that always reminds me of that day. And I had a private audience with the pope. He is a fan of San Lorenzo and he remembers that day very well.”

Would you like to play Argentine football again? Think about it?

“I would like to return to Argentine football one day and return. Football and life have many twists and turns, but I would like to give back to San Lorenzo what it gave me. I was able to make my debut there. I am a grateful person and I would like to return to San Lorenzo. I would also like to play in Rosario Central, because it was the team that my father was a fan of, who is already in heaven.”

World champion with Argentina. But the process wasn’t easy…

“It is difficult to explain everything that we experienced during the World Cup. The World Cup was an incredible experience for me. At the beginning I was very sad. I had the illusion of going because I had already gone to the Copa América and we’d been champions. Because that’s what I thought I could be, so being left out on the final list was a really hard blow to me.”

“When I was not on the list to go to the World Cup, it was very difficult. I went to Argentina, I wanted to go to the neighborhood, be with my family and find myself”

How do you deal with not being on the World Cup list on the last day?

“I was sad. I went to Argentina to clear my head, with my family, to the neighborhood, to be with my friends. I wanted to clear my head. But then it happened with Nico González and ‘Tucu’ Correa and in the end, well I was able to get on the list where I ended up going last minute and with Tiago Almada it was incredible”

The World Cup was also a fairytale for Messi. Realize your dream…

“Messi deserved it. This World Cup was what he wanted, what he yearned for and to achieve it in this way is something unique.”

“There were people who sold their car or their house to go to the World Cup to support Argentina. That gave us strength and we became champions”

The Argentina fans with the World Cup was a real madness…

“It was crazy about the people. (Laughter) That’s why they also won the award for the best fans. Our people stood out since the World Cup started, we all knew that Argentina was going to be home to Qatar. A lot of ‘We tried our best to be there. There were people who sold their cars or houses to travel and support the national team. That filled us with pride and gave us the strength to go out on the field and eventually become champions.”

The last question. Alternate extremely difficult experiences in your life with great achievements. Have you ever thought that the greater the adversity, the greater the reward?

“I didn’t think about it, but I think so, everything that happened to me in my life ended well. To achieve an important achievement. I became champion with Atlético de Madrid in Spain, then I came out of the world championships.” becoming champion with Argentina, that is something historic. Being part of that group has been the best thing for me.”