The jersey of the Argentina national team brings something else out of Lionel Messi. The monotonous and boring man who has been known to us for more than a decade and a half from Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, becomes a particularly militant leader in the national uniform, and in this World Cup he not only rules with a firm hand on the grass as he does in every setting he plays in, but also closes accounts with those who cast Doubt it. Last night (Friday) in the dramatic victory over the Netherlands in the quarter-finals, Messi celebrated in a special way his goal in the penalty which made it 0:2 in the 73rd minute: it was dedicated to the opponent’s coach, Louis van Gaal, and not only in the name of the flea. Here is the explanation.
Before resuming play from the halfway point, Messi approached the Dutch bench and looked directly at Van Gaal with his hands behind his ears. The one who used to celebrate goals with such a movement was Juan Roman Riquelme, who collaborated with Messi in the Argentina national team a decade and a half ago. Riquelme remembers Van Gaal negatively, as the Dutchman guided him when he arrived at Barcelona at the beginning of the millennium, showing him the way out following professional disagreements.
Of course, the criticism he received from the Dutch coach also angered Argentina’s number 10. Van Gaal claimed before the game that the Albiceleste play with ten men when they don’t have the ball, hinting at Messi’s lack of involvement in his team’s defensive game.
Messi to Van Gaal ????????????
— All About Argentina ???????????? (AlbicelesteTalk) December 9, 2022
It’s worth noting that Messi probably also closed an account for Angel Di Maria, who said last year that Van Gaal, under whom he played at Manchester United in the 2014/15 season, was the worst coach of his career, something that the 71-year-old Dutchman reacted to with a bite at the press conference ahead of the quarter-finals .