Messi led his side to a first semi-final since 1990 as Gonzalo Higuain's strike defeated Belgium.
"That a player like Messi almost never loses the ball is water in the desert," said Sabella after Saturday's 1-0 win.
"Today, when the terrain was dry he gave us that breath of fresh air every time he had the ball."
Four-time world player of the year Messi rarely threatened the Belgium goal as he failed to add to his tournament tally of four strikes. But he was the architect of most of Argentina's attacking play.
The 27-year-old Barcelona star helped create the only goal, winning back possession inside the Belgium half before picking out Angel Di Maria, whose deflected pass was fired in by Higuain.
The Napoli striker's winner set up a semi-final tie against either Netherlands or Costa Rica, who meet later on Saturday, in Sao Paulo on Wednesday.
"We were able to reach a semi-final which we haven't achieved for many years," said 26-year-old Higuain.
"We gave our all, it's a World Cup, it doesn't happen every day. Now we need to play well and try and reach the final. There are two matches left to achieve this beautiful dream."
Ex-Sheffield United and Leeds United midfielder Sabella said his players had created history after reaching the last four for the first time since finishing as runners-up at Italia 1990.
"After 24 years this is a good tribute to this squad. They will go down in history as one of the best four teams in the world and we will see if they can go one step more," he said.
Di Maria was a constant thorn in the Belgium defence before he was injured in the first half.
But there was one sour note for Sabella, who had to substitute Real Madrid winger Angel Di Maria shortly after half an hour through injury.
He added: "Angel has a problem in his right thigh and tomorrow he will have some tests and we will see. He is one of the key figures for us."
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