Johnny Giles was full of praise for Angel Di Maria and pointed to the star's resilience in coming back from the bench to star in the World Cup final for Argentina.
Di Maria featured sporadically for Argentina throughout the tournament and did not start against the Netherlands in the semi-final.
With the emergence of Julian Alvarez and the strong form of others within the Argentina ranks, it looked as though the former Rosario Central star would be counted out to some extent.
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However, that was not to be the case as Lionel Scaloni threw the Juventus man into his starting 11 for the final against France.
It was a move that was inspired; Di Maria won the penalty which Lionel Messi dispatched to put them 1-0 ahead before the second goal came directly from his left boot after a blistering counter attack.
Having always had his detractors - particularly after an ill-fated spell at Manchester United - the Argentine proved his worth in the final, something which did not surprise Republic of Ireland legend Giles.
Speaking on off The Ball, he said: "I think he's always been a good player, Di Maria.
"He had a bad time at Old Trafford, he didn't get on with the manager obviously.
"But he was left out before the final, he missed a couple of matches.
"I think he was a huge success in the final.
"I thought Argentina overall played better than I'd seen them [play] in the whole tournament."
And Giles admitted that he was surprised at Di Maria's omission in the earlier rounds of the tournament.
He said: "He had been left out of the team which was surprising.
"He came back and to be fair to the coach he put him back in for the final and he certainly did his stuff, there's no doubt about that.
"He was really good, scored a brilliant goal."
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