Argentina will face a tactical battle this Friday against the Dutch team, one of four unbeaten in Qatar 2022, with the aim of qualifying for the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup.
The match will be played from 16:00 at the Lusail stadium, with a capacity of 88,966 spectators, under the refereeing direction of the Spaniard Antonio Mateu Lahoz, who will be accompanied by his compatriots Pau Cebrian (assistant 1), Roberto Díaz (assistant 2) and Alejandro Hernández (VAR ).
The winner of this quarter-final crossover will know the rival of the next instance first as five-time champions Brazil and current runners-up Croatia will meet from 12pm at the Education City Stadium.
The meeting between the Argentines and the Dutch, sixth in the history of the World Cup, is presented as a rematch of the semi-final of Brazil 2014 when Alejandro Sabella’s team won on penalties against the formation led, as today, by the prestigious coach Louis Van Gal.
At 71, Van Gaal is the oldest manager in Qatar 2022 and shows validity reflected in the stats. His third cycle in ‘Oranje’ started in September 2021 due to lack of results from his predecessor Frank De Boer and started an unbeaten run of 14 wins and 5 draws.
The current squad, without the stars of yesteryear but with players of proven hierarchy, stands faithfully behind a leader who wanted to stay in the national team despite battling cancer.
The Netherlands, the eighth best team in the world according to the latest FIFA rankings, won Group A undefeated, which they shared with Qatar, Ecuador and Senegal, and subsequently eliminated the United States in the round of 16.
His style of play is far from the traditional school of Johan Cruyff, a trait naturally accepted by the manager. “I changed the way I think about football,” said the aesthetic manager of European and Intercontinental Cup champion Ajax in the 1990s.
Van Gaal did not want to reveal his cards to face Argentina but he hinted that he had studied the current champion of America very well, who went from least to most in this World Cup after starting with an unexpected defeat against Saudi Arabia .
His Argentinian colleague, Lionel Scaloni, who is at the other end of the age pyramid, given that he is the youngest coach in the World Cup at 44, also fueled that game of hide and seek without giving any clues about tactical design, strategy or the training he will use in the return to Lusail, scene of the first two matches of the “Albiceleste”.
Name speculation includes wingers, midfielder Rodrigo De Paul and striker Ángel Di María.
“We never play with a 4-3-3 because we don’t have a left winger”, Scaloni clarified today, who in the part of training that the press didn’t observe also tried with a 3/5 line in defense, with Lisandro Martínez, coming on as central defender on the left and not playing from the start, Di María, “the only winger the team has”, completed coach Pujato’s description.
And just today Di María was on Van Gaal’s lips for a personal disagreement they’ve had since they met at Manchester United. ‘Fideo’ went so far as to claim that the Dutchman was ‘the worst coach’ of his career.
“I didn’t like it, but he’s one of the few who said it,” minimized the coach with a past in other great European clubs such as Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Scaloni hypothesized the complexity of the confrontation in advance but avoided projecting how the match could be considered, aware that “all rivals play differently” in front of his team.
Argentina reached the quarter-finals led by their captain Lionel Messi (3 goals), a respected but far from feared figure in the orange squad, which is captained by one of the best defenders in the world, Virgil Van Dijk (Liverpool).
“Messi doesn’t play without possession,” said Van Gaal, perhaps as an indication of what he can look for in this sixth World Cup match.
In the previous five, Argentina has never managed to beat them in the 90 regular minutes but celebrated the two most important: the final of the ’78 World Cup (3-1 in added time) and the semi-final of Brazil 2014 (4-2 on penalties). .
The Netherlands prevailed in the other knockout match (2-1, quarterfinals of France ’98) and won 4-0 in the second round of Germany ’74. The only draw (0-0) occurred in the group stage of Germany 2006 when both were already classified.
This Friday’s match will be defined with 30 minutes of extra time and possibly penalties if it remains tied in regulation time.
Probable formations
Argentina: Emiliano Martinez; Gonzalo Montiel (or Nahuel Molina), Cristian Romero, Nicolás Otamendi, Lisandro Martínez (or Ángel Di María) and Nicolás Tagliafico (or Marcos Acuña); Rodrigo De Paul (or Leandro Paredes), Enzo Fernández and Alexis Mac Allister; Lionel Messi; Ángel Di María (or Lisandro Martínez) and Julián Álvarez. DT: Lionel Scaloni.
Holland: Andries Noppert; Jurrien Timber, Virgil van Dijk and Nathan Aké; Denzel Dumfries, Marten de Roon, Frenkie de Jong and Daley Blind; Davy Klaassen; Cody Gakpo and Memphis Depay. DT: Louis Van Gaal.
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain), accompanied by his compatriots Pau Cebrian (assistant 1), Roberto Díaz (assistant 2) and Alejandro Hernández (VAR).
Stadium: Losail.
Start time: 4pm.
Televisa: Public TV, TyC Sports and DSports.
Source: Clarin
Jason Root is the go-to source for sports coverage at News Rebeat. With a passion for athletics and an in-depth knowledge of the latest sports trends, Jason provides comprehensive and engaging analysis of the world of sports.