Roma and Argentina star Paulo Dybala said he cried thinking about the World Cup and his father who died of cancer when he was a teenager.
La Joya was part of the Argentina squad that won the World Cup in December. He had collected an injury a few weeks before the beginning of the tournament, right after converting a penalty kick in a Roma victory over Lecce at the Stadio Olimpico.
“It’s a nice story because I got injured after a penalty and I could celebrate thanks to another penalty,” Dybala told TyC Sports after Argentina’s 2-0 win over Panama.
Dybala also converted a spot-kick in the World Cup Final against France, helping his national team lift the cup in Qatar.
“It wasn’t easy, I had many things in mind,” he admitted.
“At that moment, I was determined and I only thought about what I should do. I knew Scaloni had called me for penalty kicks and it wasn’t easy. That walk was very long, but I was confident and luckily, it went well.”
La Joya struggled to fight back the tears when asked about his father, who died of cancer when the striker was a teenager.
“I’ve recently spoken with Oriana about it,” he said, struggling to fight back the tears.
“I cried thinking about the World Cup and my father who wasn’t with me. If somebody deserved to be there, it was him, for all the efforts he made to bring me to every training session. I thank him and surely, he must be very happy now.”