Getting ready for their first World Cup semifinal in 24 years, Argentina have one set of bad news and one set of good ones: Angel di Maria is out, at least for the match against the Netherlands, but Sergio Aguero, who hasn’t played since the group stage, should be fit again after suffering from a similar injury.
Angel di Maria has a thigh strain that caused him to limp off the pitch during the first half of the quarterfinals against Belgium. Before leaving with an injury, he sorta assisted Gonzalo Higuain to score the winning goal in the encounter. He also scored the only goal in the win over Switzerland during the round of 16 match.
Marcos Rojo, one of Argentina’s best performers in the tournament so far, scoring the winning goal against Nigeria in the final group stage match, will be returning from suspension to the left back position. Jose Basanta played for him.
It’ll be interesting to see how Sabella reacts to Di Maria’s injury, which means which player he’ll put instead of him, as Argentina aren’t exactly flowing with attacking midfielders and wingers. He’ll also be tested in how he keeps up with the changes he made heading into the Belgium match.
Lucas Biglia and Martin Demichelis got their first starts in the quarterfinals and did a fine job as Argentina were able to defend close to flawlessly against Belgium for the entire match, doing well against both their passing game and later on against their attempts to cross their way into an equalizer.