Virgil van Dijk, focused on deactivating Lionel Messi and Julián Álvarez: “We’ll have to come up with a good plan”

Still 500 paces from the Argentine bunker, which lowered its curtains for journalists on Wednesday, the Netherlands has reopened its doors at the Qatar National University. Attention, Louis Van Gaal, like Lionel Scaloni, also did not show the training, but allowed defender Virgil Van Dijk and goalkeeper Andries Noppert to tell how they are living the hours before the game on Friday, from 4:00 in Argentina , at the Lusail stadium, for the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

The questions, as happened on Tuesday when Nathan Aké and Jurrien Timber intervened, were aimed at seeing how the Oranjes will try to stop Lionel Messi and company.

“I’m not worried about Argentina’s attack. We’re just prepared to play the game and try to do everything we can to win and progress to the semi-finals,” said Van Dijk, one of the best defenders on the planet, who shone at Liverpool for years.

When asked about the long history of duels between Argentina and the Netherlands at the World Cup, Van Dijk downplayed what happened in the past and focused on the immediate future.

“For me this match has no special meaning due to its historical background. It’s special because it’s a match for the quarter-finals of a World Cup. I am very proud to be in this place, to have the possibility of reaching a semi-final and to be close to realizing a dream that we have always pursued. That’s why I don’t have that extra feeling for the story. The idea is to be able to show our quality and our unity to try to move on to the next round”.

And he immediately focused on the difficulty of having to play against Lionel Messi, who is one of the figures of this World Cup, with three goals converted to put Argentina among the eight best in the competition.

“He is one of the best players of our time. He has done so well for so many years. Together with Cristiano Ronaldo they have been the dominant players in the last two decades. We have only respect for their achievements. It’s an honor to play against him. But it’s not me against him or the Netherlands against him, it’s the Netherlands against Argentina. Nobody can do it alone, we will have to come up with a good plan,” he stressed.

But Messi is no longer alone. Julián Álvarez, for example, has scored two goals since he established himself as a starter to replace Lautaro Martínez and Van Dijk also spoke about the Spider and the damage that Argentina’s attack could cause.

“To be honest, I’m not worried. I’m aware of the danger Argentina can create because they are a fantastic team with fantastic players. So we will have to be very careful in all our lines and facets of the game. We have to be ready for it,” he remarked.

And he continued to focus on Álvarez. “He’s a great player, very fast. I think he has a great future. He arrived in England and is doing very well at City taking into account the circumstance of having Haaland at this great level ahead of him. I think he’s a great player and This will be important for City and for Argentina, I hope it’s not now, huh.”

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