BRAZIL: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - WORLD CUP 2014 - Angel Di Maria to miss semi-final with injury but Sergio Aguero is fit to play when Argentina meets Netherlands in World Cup semi-final

Record ID: 449141

  • Title: BRAZIL: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - WORLD CUP 2014 - Angel Di Maria to miss semi-final with injury but Sergio Aguero is fit to play when Argentina meets Netherlands in World Cup semi-final
  • Date: 7th July 2014
  • Summary: BELO HORIZONTE, BRAZIL (JULY 6, 2014) (REUTERS) WIDE OF TEAM ON PITCH TEAM ON PITCH IN A HUDDLE MORE OF TEAM IN A HUDDLE LIONEL MESSI WALKING ON PITCH JAVIER MASCHERANO ON PITCH VARIOUS OF PLAYERS STRETCHING PLAYERS RUNNING ON PITCH COACH ALEJANDRO SABELLA ON PITCH MORE OF PLAYERS ON PITCH WIDE OF PLAYERS ON PITCH WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) JAVIER MASCHERANO, MIDFIELDER, SAYING: "We will play against a team which has a lot of experience. In the last World Cup, they went really far. They are hungry to win because they remember what happened in South Africa and they want to win. This will be a difficult match. We don't expect an easy match. It's a semi-final, but I repeat, we are excited to keep moving on. We are in a position which we expected the first day we came here. Now it all depends on all of us." WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) TEAM DOCTOR DANIEL MARTINEZ SAYING: "We have all the elements for Angel's speedy recovery, from the human element, the infrastructure in the club and the technology, which we have previously seen - all these are for Angel's immediate recovery. Of course he's not going to play in the next match." JOURNALISTS
  • Embargoed: 22nd July 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: General,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA3OBETDW3DJYOK9VH6E24XFY5S
  • Story Text: Angel Di Maria has been ruled out of Argentina's semi-final against the Netherlands but fellow forward Sergio Aguero has recovered from a muscle strain and is fit to play, the team doctor said on Sunday (July 6).
    Aguero looked comfortable in training at the Argentine camp, but Di Maria was missing and undergoing intensive treatment after hobbling out of their 1-0 quarter-final win over Belgium.
    In their first semi-final since 1990, the South Americans play the Netherlands in Sao Paulo on Wednesday (July 8).
    "We will play against a team which has a lot of experience. In the last World Cup, they went really far, they are hungry to win because they remember what happened in South Africa and they want to win. This will be a difficult match, we don't expect an easy match, it's a semi-final, but I repeat, we are excited to keep moving on, we are in a position which we expected the first day we came here -- now it depends on all of us," said midfielder Javier Mascherano.
    The team doctor said Di Maria would not be able to play on Wednesday's match.
    "We have all the elements for Angel's speedy recovery, the technology, the inftrastucrue in the club, all these are for Angel's recovery, he can't play in the next match," team doctor Daniel Martinez told reporters.
    Aguero missed two games due to a muscle strain but on the evidence of Sunday afternoon's training session at their camp in Belo Horizonte, the speedy forward should at least make the substitutes bench.
    The absence of Di Maria, the South Americans' most creative player after captain Lionel Messi, will be a big blow but the return to form of Gonzalo Higuain lessens the impact.
    Higuain's instinctive strike against Belgium gave Argentina passage to the semi-finals.
    Roared on by tens of thousands of fans who have crossed the border, Argentina are bidding for a third World Cup.
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