Argentina’s talisman Messi will be taking to the pitch hoping to carry his team past the Oranje into the semifinals.
Experts say the 2022 tournament is likely to be Messi’s last World Cup and add, the South Americans will likely be turning to him to play a crucial role in determining whether they will advance to the next stage.
The 35-year-old has been compared to other goal scoring veterans such as Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
When asked who is better between Messi and Ronaldo, football expert Robbie Lyle said, “it’s got to be Messi,” adding, “I’ve been to all the games out there and he ran the show in their last game against Australia.”
Discussing his starting 11 options for the clash against Oranje, Argentina’s coach Lionel Scaloni expressed confidence in all his players.
“We know that our team will break their backs as we have done in previous games,” said Scaloni.
“Sometimes we’ve played very well, sometimes not that well, but we have always stood up for ourselves and that’s the thing that our people value,” added Scaloni.
Louis van Gaal, Netherlands coach has been the brunt of criticism from experts who question his choice of tactics and whether those will help the Europeans best their South American counterparts in their quarterfinal clash.
Van Gaal responded to criticism of him abandoning traditional Dutch tactics by arguing that football has evolved.
“When I came up with the defensive system for the 2014 World Cup, I received a lot of criticism but now half the world plays like that and football has evolved towards it, said Van Gaal.
The 71-year-old Dutch coach also expressed confidence in his sides ability to beat Argentina’s La Albiceleste and go all the way to the finals.
“We are also a country that has a chance to become world champions because I hope we are the best team,” he said.
