adminRIO DE JANEIRO. — Argentina captain Lionel Messi gives the World Cup soccer semi-finalists “water in the desert” when they are struggling, says coach Alejandro Sabella.
Messi led his side to a first semi-final since 1990 as Gonzalo Higuain’s strike defeated Belgium. “That a player like Messi almost never loses the ball is water in the desert,” said Sabella after Saturday’s 1-0 win. Today, when the terrain was dry he gave us that breath of fresh air every time he had the ball.” Four-time World Player of the Year Messi rarely threatened the Belgium goal as he failed to add to his tournament tally of four strikes. But he was the architect of most of Argentina’s attacking play.
The 27-year-old Barcelona star helped create the only goal, winning back possession inside the Belgium half before picking out Angel Di Maria, whose deflected pass was fired in by Higuain.
The Napoli striker’s winner set up a semi-final tie against the Netherlands in Sao Paulo on Wednesday.
“We were able to reach a semi-final which we haven’t achieved for many years,” said 26-year-old Higuain. — BBC Sport.
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