Messi’s World Cup Glory Threatened

By Daily Sports Nigeria on December 9, 2022

Orange Boys captain, Virgil Van Dijk says that Holland have to conjure up a plan to stop Lionel Messi from “chilling” on Friday.

The Dutch are preparing to face Argentina in the World Cup quarter-final in two days’ time.

The Liverpool star will come face-to-face with the legendary forward as the two nations battle it out for a semi-final place.

Messi, 35, has already scored three goals at the tournament and is looking to finally get his hands on the World Cup – the one prize that has eluded him in his epic career.

Van Dijk spoke to the media on Wednesday ahead of the showdown about the threat of the Paris Saint-Germain attacker.

And he knows full well that Messi is capable of looking like he is doing very little before bursting into lift and drifting into spaces to punish the opposition.

The 31-year-old defender said: “The difficult thing about him is when we are attacking, he is chilling somewhere in a corner or something.

“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.”

Van Dijk added: “It is an honour to play against him.

“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.”

Van Dijk and Messi have come up against each other previously, the most-notable being in the 2019 Champions League semi-final.

Messi scored twice to put Barcelona into a 3-0 first-leg lead but Liverpool famously came back to win the second-leg 4-0.

Source Sporting Sun

Posted December 9, 2022


 

You may also like...
Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Juventus Defend Super League...

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez signs ‘most lucrative’ deal with...

Nigeria bosses must leave Gernot Rohr to do...

How I caged Osimhen – Tomori

Hearn hints Anthony Joshua could vacate one of...

Only PTF Can Decide 2020/2021 NPFL Kick Off...

 

Latest News Sundowns face fatigue, travel nightmare ahead Remo clash Nigeria loses 2030 Commonwealth Games bid to India Explainer: How Super Eagles can secure World Cup ticket through play-offs Ever-present Bassey shines in World Cup qualifiers Super Eagles to face Gabon in World Cup play-offs 160 students for 2nd EOCF Unified Sports WCQ: Keep hope alive, Tinubu urges Super Eagles after 4-0 win Glover to oversee CAHB, IHF election I’m proud of my players – Chelle 2025 Georgian Cup holds in Kaduna Eagles have good chance in play-offs – Odegbami Super Eagles qualify for 2026 World Cup playoffs

 

Most Read Rangers International going, going . . . (63,244 views) Amaju Pinnick: A cat with nine lives (54,438 views) Second Term: Amaju Pinnick, Other NFF Heavyweights Home to Roost •How Pinnick Broke the Jinx (52,392 views) Current issues in Nigerian sports: Matters arising (51,999 views) Sports Development: Zenith Bank on the zenith (51,993 views) Missing $150,000 IAAF Grant: Solomon Dalung’s Hide and Seek game (51,958 views) Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje’s solid footprints, commitment to sports development in Kano State (51,782 views) NFF Presidency: Pinnick, Maigari, Ogunjobi, Okoye in Battle for Supremacy (51,367 views) Olopade, BET9A wave of revolution in NNL (50,484 views) Commonwealth Games 2018: Shame of Muhammadu Buhari, Solomon Dalung (49,026 views) Ibrahimovic’s Man U exit: Whose decision is it? And in whose interest? (47,462 views) John Mikel Obi: Segun Odegbami’s Outrageous Call! (46,923 views)

 

Phone numbers

Tel: +234(0)8066020976
+234(0)8055068145
+234(0)7013416146
+234(0)8094272884

Email addresses

info@dailysportsng.com
support@dailysportsng.com
publisher@dailysportsng.com

Office address

No 3, Adetoun Close, Off College Road, Ogba, Ikeja Lagos.
Website: www.dailysportsng.com

Social Media