Virgil van Dijk deflected many questions on his impending conflict with Lionel Messi however admitted the Netherlands could be cautious of their strategy towards Argentina in Friday’s World Cup quarter-final.
The Dutch captain caught to the identical line in fielding a barrage of questions on how he would take care of the Messi risk on the Lusail Stadium.
“It’s not about me or the Netherlands against Messi, it’s about the Netherlands against Argentina,” he repeated a number of instances at a press convention on Wednesday.
Responding to a query on how apprehensive he may be concerning the risk to the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, Van Dijk stated: “Not apprehensive, however watch out about what the Argentine can convey to the sport .
“They are a great team with great players, and we need to do well in all departments of the match.”
He agreed that his facet might have performed higher in Qatar regardless of not dropping a sport and profitable their group, however diplomatically sidestepped the query of whether or not criticism of their efficiency at house was usually Dutch.
“We also feel that we could have played better in the last game,” he added. “We are all perfectionists and would have preferred to have completed higher. But the nice factor is that we’re nonetheless within the competitors and are taking part in within the quarter-finals.
The Dutch are keen to interrupt new floor and win the World Cup after dropping three finals. “There’s a hunger, dreams and a feeling that we really want to get it (the World Cup),” Van Dijk stated.
“When you’re within the quarter-finals you’re solely three video games away from glory. This is our alternative. But after all we’ve to go previous top-of-the-line gamers of all time, Argentina.”
The Dutch additionally face the prospect of being the vast majority of the 80,000-plus crowd, as a surprisingly small variety of orange-clad Dutch supporters have made the journey. Usually, the Dutch have important assist on the street, however with out them, Van Dijk believes an early objective may very well be the important thing to calming opposing followers.
“Then it comes a completely different game,” he stated. “But I think it would be nice to play in such an environment.”
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
