Argentina attacker Angel Di Maria was announced in the starting lineup for his side’s FIFA World Cup final clash against France at the Lusail Stadium on Sunday.
FIFA WORLD CUP FINAL -ARGENTINA VS FRANCE, FOLLOW THE ACTION LIVE
Di Maria has not started since the start of the knockout stage, having last started Albiceleste’s Group C match against Poland, when he was subbed off with a thigh injury in the 59th minute.
Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni brought in the Juventus winger, in place of midfielder Leandro Paredes.
There was a possibility of Scaloni bringing back the five-man defence, which was employed in the round of 16 game against Netherlands, when Lisandro Martinez slotted in alongside Cristian Romero and Nicolas Otamendi.
But Scaloni was evasive on Saturday when asked if he would deploy a three-man defence as he did for the quarter-final against the Netherlands, to give right full back Nahuel Molina support against France’s lightning-fast star player Kylian Mbappe.
“We already decided the strategy and we will play in a way in which we think we can hurt our rivals the most and suffer the least,” Scaloni told a news conference.
“We have our gameplan, we know how to play them and now we just have to execute, and I hope we can play a similar game as we did against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals - but win the match without having to go through the pain of a penalty shoot-out.”
Di Maria had missed out on a World Cup final before, as he had to sit out the 2014 defeat against Germany.
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