If Argentina does not win the 2022 World Cup, Messi will not necessarily be the most miserable person. On the bench, there was a Di Maria on the verge of tears when Mbappe equalized 3-3 for the French team at the end of the second extra time.

Di Maria leaned her head against the cabin, covering her face with her shirt to stop the tears that began to fall. That was the second time Mbappe defeated Emiliano Martinez on the 11m mark, thereby bringing the match back to the starting line with only a few minutes left in extra time. Di Maria cried because he feared the worst would happen to Argentina, as they would face an unfortunate penalty shootout.

Those tears seemed to contain bitterness and a sense of injustice. Because Di Maria did almost everything he could to lead Argentina to the championship in his 63 minutes on the field. Against France , Di Maria played his best football.

In the final match, coach Lionel Scaloni arranged Di Maria to play on the left of Messi instead of on the right as in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in South America and in the group stage of this year’s finals. This allows Messi’s cross-field passes from the right to find a reliable address.

The 34-year-old winger knows Messi better than anyone else (playing together since 2008) and is always ready to penetrate behind the French defense. This change helped Argentina create a lot of turbulence in the opening minutes of the match and Messi even almost scored if Tchouameni did not promptly intervene.

But, the thing that made Di Maria the most scary in more than an hour on the field was his tricky dribbling situations and his inspiration when holding the ball. The ability to suddenly stop while dribbling at high speed makes opponents extremely miserable and frustrated. That emotion led to Dembele’s crude foul when he was passed by Di Maria. On the 11m mark, Messi opened the score for Argentina.

Di Maria diligently dribbled the ball, dribbling it over and over again with raw football passion. His confidence motivated the young players to turn the first half of the 2022 World Cup final into a Tango dance floor. On the contrary, the French players played like ‘chickens with their hair out’, they were afraid of making mistakes against a runner who was always ready to stab straight into the opponent’s defense.

Di Maria’s effectiveness and ferociousness help midfielder Mac Allister have more time to neutralize Griezmann – who plays a key role in the French team’s play. Argentina’s second goal came as a matter of course. Even the French team could not shoot a single shot in 60 minutes of play, a bad statistic only behind Costa Rica in this year’s tournament. And the turning point in the match came when Di Maria left the field to make room for Acuna.

Without Di Maria, Argentina has no output in attacking situations. Acuna has good physical strength but is not sharp enough to proactively move when he detects space behind the French defense. Messi or Mac Allister begin to have uncomfortable situations when the machine that is running smoothly is out of rhythm. This also created an opportunity for France to regain confidence and begin a counterattack. What followed turned the 2022 World Cup final into one of the most memorable finals in history.

If Argentina does not win the 2022 World Cup, Scaloni’s decision to substitute will be questioned. But history has chosen Di Maria as Messi’s guardian angel: Angel scored, M10 got the trophy. Looking back on his career, Di Maria shined many times in finals with Messi present. In 2008, Messi assisted Di Maria to score the goal that brought home the Olympic gold medal.

In 2021, Di Maria scored to help Argentina win the Copa America, ending 28 years of nothing. Even in the Intercontinental Super Cup between Argentina and Italy, Di Maria also scored. In the 2014 World Cup, Di Maria was injured in the quarterfinals and retired from the tournament. If Di Maria had stood side by side with Messi in the final, maybe ‘La Pulga’ could have reached the World Cup gold trophy sooner.

Di Maria has never reached the stature of a top star like Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar or Mbappe. His appearance also did not attract sympathy and was once the object of hatred from MU fans due to his controversial statements. But on Lusail Stadium, Di Maria spent 60 minutes overshadowing the brightest stars on the planet. 60 minutes is enough for the World Cup trophy to no longer be a decades-long worry for the Argentine people.

Di Maria – the name makes many people think of Mary Mary in Catholicism. And on the ‘most holy night’, Our Lady listened to the prayers of millions of Argentines.