Angel Di Maria injury leaves Argentina without its best sidekick to Lionel Messi
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One match away from the 2014 World Cup final, Argentina will be without standout midfielder Angel Di Maria due to a thigh injury. He has scored only one goal in the competition, but his injury is far more detrimental to Argentina's hopes than anyone in Buenos Aires would care to acknowledge.
True, the unbelievable heroics of Lionel Messi resulted in five victories in five matches ahead of Wednesday's semifinal, but the importance of Di Maria's role in the team cannot be overstated. The 26-year-old served as a pressure release valve for the man carrying a nation on his shoulders. Although all the actions did not result in goals, Di Maria was Argentina's second-best attacking player.
With Di Maria ruled out against the Netherlands, Messi is now without the one teammate that consistently launched counterattacks, ran at defenders, crossed balls into the box and took meaningful shots against the opposition. Although the finished product seemingly always required a magical waive of the wand by Messi, Di Maria helped soften defenses by applying consistent pressure.
In the round of 16, it was Di Maria who accepted Messi's pass and hit the winner against Switzerland two minutes shy of penalty kicks. In the quarterfinal against Belgium, Messi eluded defenders with grace and style before finding Di Maria again. This time, the Real Madrid midfielder's deflected pass found Gonzalo Higuain cultured right foot, and the lone goal gave Argentina the necessary edge to advance to the semifinal against the Netherlands.
It's no coincidence that, in both match-winning goals in the knockout rounds, Messi combined with Di Maria. Without a doubt, no player has helped Messi on the pitch as much as Di Maria. For the first time in the World Cup, however, Messi will be without his midfield partner when Argentina faces the Dutch in Sao Paulo.
Apart from that incredible volley, Higuain has been a dead-weight disappointment, but he is hardly the only attacking player in a blue and white shirt not meeting expectations. For all the talent in Argentina's attack, Higuain's lone match winner accounts for the only goal by an Argentine forward in Brazil. Sergio Aguero, Ezekial Lavezzi and Rodrigo Palacio have all drawn blanks in front of goal, and none of Argentina's forwards have looked all that threatening.
Far from his best in the tournament, Di Maria still managed the second-most shots at the 2014 World Cup, which added up to eight more than Messi. Of his 25 shots, Di Maria put 21 of them on goal, and truth be told, he was unlucky not to only grab more goals through the first five matches. He even struck the woodwork on one occasion. To put Di Maria's efficiency in perspective, Messi only put nine of his 17 shots on target, but one would have a difficult time criticizing Messi considering he scored four of those nine attempts.
In terms of connecting the defense to the attack, Di Maria was arguably more vital than Messi. While Messi often ambled about following a failed attack, Di Maria was back defending and working to ignite the next counterattack. In all, Di Maria completed 242 passes, which were 62 more than Messi and the most of any attacking player for Argentina. Javier Mascherano, Fernando Gago, Ezekial Garay and Pablo Zabaleta all completed more passes than Di Maria, but that foursome combined for only six shots on goal, meaning the vast majority of their passes came in defensive positions.
To underscore Di Maria's individual ability, the former Rosario Central and Benfica midfielder managed as many solo runs into the penalty area (seven) as Messi. That was good enough to put both men in a tie for third-best in the World Cup. Worth mentioning, the Netherlands' Arjen Robben literally ran away with that category with 17 solo runs into opponents' areas, which were more than twice as many as any other player in Brazil.
When providing valuable service into the box, Di Maria was only second to Messi at crossing balls into the area. Entering the semifinal, Messi delivered 22 balls while Di Maria delivered 18. Incidentally, Robben delivered 17 balls into the area for third best. Apparently, Robben does not simply cut in on his left foot and look to shoot anymore.
The popular narrative of Argentina's World Cup thus far features one star player rising to the occasion and winning game after game. Yes, Messi is the match winner, and that fact is undeniable. However, these statistics reinforce the reality that Di Maria was the second attacking force that regularly drew the attention of the audience and opponents away from the magician as he prepared to perform his greatest acts.
With Di Maria out, Messi's shoulders will carry more weight than ever before.
Shahan Ahmed was a regular contributor to Yahoo! Sports’ World Cup 2014 coverage and has also covered the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, German Bundesliga and UEFA Champions League for Yahoo! Sports. Contact Shahan on Twitter: @ShahanLA
