{"id":151429,"date":"2022-12-08T04:17:28","date_gmt":"2022-12-08T04:17:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/van-dijk-says-netherlands-argentina-not-just-about-messi\/"},"modified":"2022-12-08T04:17:28","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T04:17:28","slug":"van-dijk-says-netherlands-argentina-not-just-about-messi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/van-dijk-says-netherlands-argentina-not-just-about-messi\/","title":{"rendered":"Van Dijk says Netherlands-Argentina not just about Messi"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Virgil van Dijk was adamant that the Netherlands’ World Cup quarterfinal against Argentina on Friday wasn’t a battle of him against Lionel Messi, but added his team would be cautious in their approach against the Argentina superstar.<\/p>\n

The Dutch skipper stayed on message while fielding a flurry of questions about how the Netherlands will deal with the threat of Messi at the Lusail Stadium: it will be a team effort.<\/p>\n

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“It’s not about me, or the Netherlands, against Messi, it’s about the Netherlands against Argentina,” Van Dijk said at a news conference Wednesday.<\/p>\n

In response to a question about how worried they might be about the threat of the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, Van Dijk said: “Worried no, but cautious of what Argentina can bring to the game.<\/p>\n

“They are a fantastic team with fantastic players, and we are going to have to do well in all departments of the match.”<\/p>\n

He agreed that his side could have played better in Qatar up to this point, despite not losing a game and winning their group, but diplomatically dodged a question about whether criticism of their performances back home was typically Dutch.<\/p>\n