Netherlands dare Messi’s Argentina as quarterfinals begin

Netherlands’ defender Virgil van Dijk (L) celebrates scoring the 2-2 with Netherlands’ forward Quincy Promes during the UEFA Nations League football match Germany v the Netherlands in Gelsenkirchen on November 19, 2018. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)

It is now the business end of the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Qatar with the eight biggest teams in the competition ready to berth in the last four of the Copa du Mundo.

No other game holding anywhere in the world can be more exciting than an Argentina versus Holland clash or a Brazil against Croatia bout. These four teams have shown in the last two weeks that they are capable of going home with the FIFA World Cup trophy.

But today, only two of them will survive to fight in the semifinals. The battles are well poised, with an ambitious Holland side angling to expel an Argentine side brimming with so much confidence. And then, there is the almighty Brazil that have left football followers in awe of what they can do with the ball.

Football pundits have already narrowed the fight for the crown down to France and Brazil, forgetting that England, Croatia, which lost to France in the last final, Holland and Portugal are formidable foes that can topple the applecart on their day. Expecting a tough battle with Argentina, Dutch captain, Virgil van Dijk, yesterday, deflected questions about his looming confrontation with Lionel Messi, but admitted the Netherlands would be cautious in their approach.

He stuck to the same line in fielding a flurry of enquiries about how he and his teammates will deal with the threat of Messi at Lusail Stadium. “It’s not about me, or the Netherlands, against Messi — it’s about the Netherlands against Argentina,” he repeated several times at a news