With all the talk and excitement about the possibility of Freddy Adu coming to SL Benfica we almost missed the fact that Benfica signed two more young players, Di María and Andrés Diaz, both of them FIFA Under-20 World Cup Champions.

Di María, 19, a forwards that can play in any position, is considered one of the top young stars of Argentinian soccer.  And needless to say that the Argentinian school of soccer has developed some of the best and most famous players of all-time, and whose newest young star is no other the Messi.  Of all these three recent newcomers Di María is actually the one to keep an eye on and the one most likely to get significant playing time.  Di María cost Benfica 6 million Euros.   From what I read in British papers, Benfica actually “stole” Di María away from Arsenal.

Andrés Diaz was also with Argentina for the Under-20 Cup, but is a much less know player, and even Fernando Santos has said that he doesn´t know the player.  Andrés Diaz will have to show during the pre-season that he deserves to stay on with the main Benfica squad.    Benfica will own a 50% stake in Andrés Dias.  Much like Freddy Adu, Diaz was much talked about 2-3 years ago, but then has not developed to all that was expected of him.

Its too bad none of these players will be playing for Benfica today in their friendly against Al Ahly.  Speaking of which, the game is starting in a few minutes!