Football

World Cup 2022: Leo Messi Says Van Gaal ‘Disrespected’ Him Before Quarter-Final Win

World Cup 2022: Leo Messi Says Van Gaal ‘Disrespected’ Him Before Quarter-Final Win

Lionel Messi has said that he felt “disrespected” by Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal before Argentina’s quarter-final meeting with the Dutch at Lusail Stadium in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Messi was on-form on Friday night, assisting Nahuel Molina for Argentina’s first goal before striking from the penalty spot in the 73rd minute to put his side up two goals. However, two late goals from the Netherlands from substitute striker Wout Weghorst, the second from a daring last minute of injury time free-kick move, took the game to a penalty shootout.

With so much at stake, the quarter-final tie became heated on a number of occasions, with flashpoints occurring between opposing players. It all came to a head when Leandro Paredes kicked the ball in the direction of the Dutch bench and Netherlands skipper Virgil van Dijk pushed the midfielder to the ground as both side clashed on the sideline.

Conflict with Van Gaal

Another talking point which arose from the game was Messi’s conflict with van Gaal. The star forward first directed his 73rd minute goal celebration at the Dutch bench, and then became involved in a confrontation with the Netherlands manager after the game.

Messi explained that this was because he had felt disrespected by the veteran manager before the game. In the run up to the clash, van Gaal had suggested that the Argentinean did little to help his team out of possession.

“I feel disrespected by Van Gaal after his pregame comments and some Dutch players spoke too much during the game,” Messi told reporters following the result.

“Van Gaal sells that he plays good football and then he puts forwards in the box and starts throwing long balls,” Messi said of the manager’s setup, “We deserved to go through and that’s what happened.”

Messi’s teammate and penalty shootout hero, Emiliano Martinez, also had words for the Dutch manager after the game, which saw the Aston Villa goalie become a hero after he saved the Netherland’s first two penalties in the shootout.

“I heard Van Gaal saying ‘we’ve got an advantage on penalties, if we go to penalties we win,'” Martinez told reporters,, “I think he needs to keep his mouth shut.”

Messi encourages Martinez in penalty-shootout
Lionel Messi and goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez of Argentina celebrate during the penalty shootout  between Netherlands and Argentina on December 9, 2022. Photo: Joel Marklund / BILDBYRÅN / kod JM / JM0408 – by Icon sport

Criticism of the Referee

Both Messi and Martinez also criticized the referee of the game, Mateu Lahoz, after he appeared to lose control of the affair on several occasions. They joined players from both sides in criticizing the ref after the game which saw several comings-together throughout proceedings.

“I don’t want to talk about the referee because you can’t be honest,” Messi told an Argentinean TV station.

“If you talk they sanction you; FIFA must think about it, they can’t put a referee who isn’t up to the task for these instances,” he added.

Argentina now go on to face Croatia in the semi-final stage of the World Cup in Qatar. The European side had a similarly engaging clash with Brazil and also took the game to a penalty shootout after the affair ended 1-1 after extra-time.

Brazil netted at the end of the first-half of extra-time while Croatia equalized late on to take the game to penalties. The shootout saw Croatia net all of their penalties while Rodrygo and Marquinhos failed to put away their spot-kicks to send Croatia through.


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