Netherlands vs Argentina: Virgil van Dijk bodies Paredes as Messi scores cold penalty | OneFootball

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·9 December 2022

Netherlands vs Argentina: Virgil van Dijk bodies Paredes as Messi scores cold penalty

Article image:Netherlands vs Argentina: Virgil van Dijk bodies Paredes as Messi scores cold penalty

Lionel Messi was at the centre of the drama as Argentina and the Netherlands played out a chaotic World Cup quarter-final on Friday night.

The South American champions faced their toughest challenge of the tournament yet as they lined up against a Netherlands side that had won three out of four of their matches courtesy of Louis van Gaal’s suffocating brand of football.


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However, this time around, a few sprinkles of Messi magic was all it took to blow the game wide open, kick-starting one of the most chaotic 90 minutes of Qatar 2022.

How did Messi play vs Netherlands

The first stroke of genius came in the first-half when Messi appeared to have eyes in the back of his head, playing an outrageous pass to pave the way for Nahuel Molina to open the scoring.

It truly was a spine-tingling demonstration of his ability even at 35 years old, spotting a pass that most viewers couldn’t see from a wide television angle, never mind down there on the pitch.

But the Paris Saint-Germain star wasn’t finished there because the evening wouldn’t have been complete without a goalscoring contribution of his own.

Did Messi score vs Netherlands?

With some slopping defending from Denzel Dumfries allowing Marcos Acuna to win a penalty in the second-half, the stage was set for Messi to bag his fourth goal of Qatar 2022.

However, given that his World Cup penalty record in regulation time stood at just 33.33% as he stepped up to the plate, there were still plenty of nerves amongst the 88,000 fans in attendance.

But alas, they needn’t have been worried because Messi had clearly learnt from the mistakes of his Poland misfire, scoring one of the coldest penalties he’s produced in a long, long time.

Changing up his technique slightly by channeling a more Jorginho or Bruno Fernandes-like pause before shooting, Messi was living rent-free in Andries Noppert’s head with a sublime finish.

And just to make things even better, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner decided to crown it all off with his best Gladiator impression, essentially asking the world: “Are you not entertained?”

Video: Messi’s ice-cold penalty and celebration vs Netherlands

That’s just too cold.

Dramatic scenes between Netherlands and Argentina

However, for all the iciness of Messi’s sumptuous penalty, the closing minutes could hardly have heated up any more with dramatic scenes unfolding on the touchline.

Not only was the tension amped up a notch courtesy of Wout Weghorst pulling a goal back for Van Gaal’s men, but also because everything kicked off between the two squads after a dreadful tackle from Leandro Paredes.

In truly remarkable scenes, the Argentina star flattened Nathan Ake and then proceeded to fizz the ball in the direction of the Dutch bench, duly ensuring that a melee unfolded on the pitch.

And with a certain Mr. Virgil van Dijk not taking too kindly to Paredes taking on his teammates, subsequently wiping out the Juventus star, it’s fair to say that things quickly got out of hand.

Video: Van Dijk bodies Paredes as tensions spill over

As we all know, however, that was just the start, because the tensions clearly helped to fire up Oranje as they proceeded to score the most dramatic of dramatic equalisers.

Adrenaline still coursing through their veins in the aftermath of Paredes poking the bear, the three-time finalists remarkably forced extra time when Weghorst bagged his second goal of the night from a finely worked free-kick.

What a World Cup. We need a lie down.

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