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Argentina has impressed on their path to the quarter-finals, overcoming an athletic Australian side to book a quarter-final clash with the Dutch. Lionel Messi was their destroyer-in-chief against the Aussies and will be their focal point in the knockout fixture.
While La Pulga’s attacking instincts cannot be denied, his work rate in their own half has been questioned. Virgil van Dijk is awaiting his duel with the pint-sized attacker and believes his style will favour the Dutch more than the Albiceleste.
The Liverpool defender opined it will be a tale of two phases, one in which Argentina are attacking and one when they are defending. The balance will be tilted in favour of the Argentines in the former and in favour of the Oranje in the latter.
Messi’s quality in attack will be the deciding factor in Argentina’s attack. And his lack of effort when under threat would be their undoing. Van Dijk believes this overreliance will hurt the Latin Americans as it is a team affair and not an individual showcase.
Despite the dig at the 35-year-old’s defensive contributions, Van Dijk hailed the Barcelona legend for his abilities, stating that no one can make the same impact on a football pitch as he does.
“The difficult thing about him is when we are attacking, he is chilling somewhere in a corner or something,” Van Dijk remarked.
“’You have to be so very sharp in terms of defensive organisation. They always looked for him to try to make it difficult for us on the counter.”
“It is an honour to play against him,” he added. “It is not me against him, or the Netherlands against him, but the Netherlands against Argentina.
“No one can do it on his own, we will have to come up with a good plan.”
Messi is the ‘most dangerous player
Similar sentiments were shared by Dutch boss Louis van Gaal. The former Manchester United and Barcelona manager hailed him as a difference-maker on the pitch and believes his inability to defend will give the Oranje an upper hand.
“He is indeed the most dangerous player who creates the most chances and also makes them himself,” Van Gaal told NOS.
“But on the other hand, he does not play much with the opponent when he has possession of the ball. That is also where our chances lie.”
Due to Argentina’s historical advantage over the Dutch, the quarterfinal matchup can reignite one of the greatest World Cup rivalries. It was by defeating the Netherlands that Albiceleste won their first world championship in 1978.
More recently in 2014 in Brazil, Van Gaal was at the helm when Argentina dumped them out of the competition with a penalty shootout win. The defeat still hurts the Dutch manager who wants to avenge their defeat eight years prior.
“We still have a score to settle,” he said. “I don’t like to think about it because I thought we would win and then I also exchanged for the win.
“I would like to convince the people at home to just go and watch the game and cheer for us. Then we will derive a lot of support from that.”
Maturity is realising that Lionel Messi is the greatest football player ever. pic.twitter.com/T8WpIQBrXk
— Barça Worldwide (@BarcaWorldwide) December 7, 2022
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