World Cup: Be sharp in your defence against Messi – Van Dijk warns Netherlands

Netherlands defender, Virgil van Dijk, has warned his team that they need to be sharp in organization when defending against Argentina captain Lionel Messi.

Van Dijk said that Argentina players always look for Messi to give him the ball in a bid for him to make it difficult for the opponent.

According to him, the Netherlands must come up with a precise plan to combat Messi and keep tabs on him ‘chilling’ while Louis van Gaal’s side attacks.

Netherlands and Argentina will clash in the 2022 FIFA World Cup quarter-final in Qatar on Friday.

“The difficult thing about him is when we are attacking, he’s chilling somewhere in a corner or something,” Van Dijk said at his pre-match press conference ahead of the clash.

“You have to be very sharp in terms of defensive organization. They always looked for him to try to make it difficult for us on the counter.”

“It’s an honour to play against him,” the Liverpool star added. “It’s not me against him or the Netherlands against him, but the Netherlands against Argentina.

“No one can do it on his own, we will have to come up with a good plan.”