体坛英语新闻：Sabella: Hope remains Di Maria could return to play

BRASILIA, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella said here Saturday that hope remains Angel Di Maria could return to play in Wednesday's semifinal.

During Argentina's 1-0 win over Belgium in the World Cup quarterfinal this afternoon, Di Maria suffered a thigh injury and had to be substituted in the 33rd minute.

"The Real Madrid midfielder will undergo tests on Sunday," said Sabella. "We lost one player and hope it won't be too much in the case of Angel."

"He is vital to us, but the players played an excellent match from a tactical and strategic point of view: the idea of giving and not receiving in order to create a virtuous circle. We want more, but we lived up to the objective, which was to be a part of the final four of the best teams in the world," he said.

Gonzalo Higuain, who scored the winner in today's match and became the Man of the Match, also spoke highly of Di Maria.

"He's part of the starting eleven and is very helpful," Higuain said. "I'm really sorry that he left, but we will join forces and hope he will be ready as soon as possible. We know what he represents for the team."

During the post-game press conference, Sabella expressed his strong delightness, saying,"After 24 years, we can be among the four best teams in the world. So as you can tell, this is a huge, but moderate joy. We have to reserve our energy."