FIfa World CUp 2022: All eyes will be on star striker Lionel Messi to keep his dream of becoming world champions alive when Argentina take on the Netherlands in the quarter-finals of the World Cup football tournament here on Friday. Will leave no stone unturned.
FIFA World Cup 2022: The FIFA World Cup 2022 being played in Qatar now seems to be reaching its final stage, where the quarterfinal matches are going to start from Friday. Under this, the Argentine team will face the Netherlands on Friday, for which the world’s star footballer Lionel Messi plays and is still dreaming of winning the first World Cup of his career. For Messi, this is going to be the last World Cup of his career, considering that he would like to leave no stone unturned to fulfill his dream of winning the title in this edition.
This quarterfinal could be the last World Cup match for Messi
This quarter-final match is seen as Messi vs Virgil van Dijk, youngest coach vs oldest coach of the World Cup and South America vs Europe. This possibility adds new dimensions to this match that any further match could be Messi’s last match in the World Cup. Seven-time world player of the year Messi is only three wins away from realizing his dream of winning the World Cup but two people could stand in his way.
These two people can break Messi’s dream
The first of these is Van Dijk, who has been regarded as one of the best defenders in the world in the last five years. If anyone can stop Messi from his trademark dribble, it is Liverpool center back Van Dijk who also has a great understanding of the game. The other person is Louis Van Gaal. This 71-year-old coach is considered a very shrewd strategist and he will field the Netherlands players against Messi with proper strategy.
Argentina’s Angel Di Maria, however, tried to start a war of words by saying that Van Gaal was the worst coach he had played under. Di Maria and Van Gaal were together at Manchester United in 2014–15. On the other hand, Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni is 44 years old and has less coaching experience. He took command of his country’s senior team for the first time in 2018.
Gaal has 26 years of experience
In contrast, Van Gaal has 26 years of coaching experience. Argentina, however, won the Copa America title last year with Scoloni as coach, its first title win in a major tournament since 1993. Not only this, he played an important role in taking his team to the knockouts in the current World Cup after being a victim of upsets in the first match against Saudi Arabia. Argentina and the Netherlands have faced each other in big matches in the World Cup before. These include the 1978 final in which Argentina won.
Messi would like to avenge 8 years old
The Netherlands defeated Argentina in the last 16 match in 1998, but the South American team managed to defeat their rivals in the 2014 semi-finals in a penalty shootout. Messi also played in that match and even then the coach of Netherlands was Van Gaal. The Netherlands had contained Messi well back then but the Argentine star is set to produce his best after eight years. He made it clear by showing the best game against Australia in the last 16 that he is determined to make his dream of winning the World Cup come true.
Bengali