Oranje alert for ‘human’ and dangerous Messi

Vinay Nayudu | NT

Doha, Qatar: Lionel Messi has missed a penalty at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 but also produced a magical goal.

On Friday, when the twice champions and three times runnersup Argentina take on the Netherlands in the quarter-final at the giant Lusail Stadium here, the Albicelestes would again look up to their ‘messiah’ to deliver at what is likely his final World Cup.

But the Netherlands goalkeeper Andries Noppert prefers to look the other way and possibilities. “Lionel Messi is “human” and “can miss” penalties,” he stated at a media conference, well aware of another match going into a shootout. Spain and Japan have been dumped out by penalty shootouts in the Round of 16 so far.

While Messi missed a spot kick in the crucial group match against Poland, he carried Argentina past Australia with his brilliance in their last match. Now playing his fifth World Cup, Messi has scored thrice in Qatar, taking his tally to 94 international goals.

The talisman has converted 21 of his 26 penalties in his Argentina career, with one of those failures coming in the 2-0 victory over Poland, though he did score from 12 yards in the shock opening 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia.

“He’s the same like us. He’s a human,” Noppert said. “It’s about the moment. He can also miss, and we saw it in the beginning of this tournament.” But then players like Messi are also no ordinary souls, they can rise when the occasion demands. Perhaps Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk seems to know and has asked his teammates to be wary as Messi is a danger even when ‘chilling’.

“The difficult thing about him (Messi) is when we are attacking, he is chilling somewhere in a corner or something,” Van Dijk said. “You have to be so very sharp in terms of defensive organisation.” Respecting the seventime Ballon d’Or winner, Van Dijk further said, “It is an honour to play against him. It is not me against him, or the Netherlands against him, but the Netherlands against Argentina.”

Besides Messi and Argentina, the Dutch will also have to deal with thousands of Argentinian fans who can create a magic of their own while cheering the Albicelestes. The chants and songs can be unnerving to opposition for sure. The Netherlands will also have to overcome history if they are to go past their rivals.

Argentina defeated the Netherlands in 1978 final, while under their coach Louis van Gaal the Oranje side lost to Messi & co. on penalties in the semis eight years ago. Van Gaal is not expecting a classic Netherlands-Argentina clash due to the way “football has evolved.”

Given Van Gaal and Noppert’s focus on defence and possible stalemate, the moment of Messi taking the penalty kick may well arrive again. And Argentina, along with half the world’s fans, would bank on him to deliver for sure this time!