Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk is cautious of the risk Lionel Messi poses when the Dutch crew face Argentina in Friday’s World Cup quarter-finals, though he was on the profitable facet in membership soccer final time.
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Van Dijk calls Messi one of the best participant he has performed in opposition to as Liverpool bounce again from a three-goal first leg deficit to beat Barcelona on their method to profitable the 2019 Champions League and tributes in Qatar after the Dutch have been booked repeated. last-eight spot.
“It’s an honor to play against him,” Van Dijk stated forward of the assembly on the Lusail Stadium.
“I’m not in opposition to him, or the Netherlands in opposition to him, however the Netherlands in opposition to Argentina.
“No one can do it on their own, we have to come up with a good plan.”
This was definitely the case on the 2014 World Cup when Dutch coach Louis van Gaal needed to put together for the specter of Messi within the semi-finals in Brazil, though they nonetheless misplaced. What he did study, nevertheless, was that defending in opposition to Messi is a collective act.
Messi then had extra of a playmaker’s function, however was assigned a centre-back to man-mark, in addition to receiving particular consideration from Daly Blind, who was taking part in in central midfield and shaped most of Argentina’s line of provide. was efficiently minimize.
The South Americans received, progressing to the ultimate after a penalty shootout following a goalless draw. The blind Dutch is the one survivor after eight years within the crew however now performs as a left wingback, whereas Messi, 35, has a special ragged striker function in Argentina’s new-look crew.
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Van Dijk will add his personal classes from 2019, when Messi sucked at Liverpool with two fast objectives as Barcelona whitewashed them 3-0 within the Champions League semi-final first leg, though the primary objective was a rebound and the second a spectacular one. Free kick.
Van Dijk and his team-mates returned to win 4–0 at Anfield and beat Tottenham Hotspur within the last. But Messi nonetheless made a robust impression on the Dutch centre-back.
“The difficult thing about him is that when we are attacking, he is resting somewhere in the corner,” Van Dijk stated.
“You should be very fast by way of defensive group. He was at all times looking out for him to attempt to make it tough for us on the counter.”
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
