When Messi gave his all... and more

Argentine fans celebrated twice on Friday night – first, when they saw their South American rivals Brazil crash out of the World Cup; second, when their own team overcame the Dutch 4-3 on penalties, having earlier squandered a 2-0 advantage in stoppage time, to reach the semifinals. 

It was also a night when the country’s star footballer Lionel Messi displayed two facets – one, the much-loved footballing skills; two, the lesser-known angry reactions.    

Thirty-five-year-old Messi, who has been touted as a fitting heir to the country’s legend Diego Maradona, is marshalling his troops to annex perhaps the only missing silverware in his illustrious career at Qatar 2022. 

He was in his element against the Netherlands on Friday night.     

He beautifully set up his team’s first goal which came in the 35th minute. The diminutive forward in front of a massive wall of Dutch defenders sold a dummy to his left before sliding a pass back to the right to Nahuel Molina on the edge of the box and Atlético Madrid’s wingback rightly put the finishing touches.

The Lusail Stadium – with the vast majority of the 88,235 spectators clad in light blue and white jerseys - erupted again in the 73rd minute. This time the prolific goal scorer added one more to his tally when he slapped a penalty kick in the right midriff of the net after Dutch right-back Denzel Dumfries had fouled Marcos Acuna on the edge of the box. That was his 10th World Cup goal and it tied him with Gabriel Batistuta on his country’s all-time leading scorers list for the tournament. 

Later Messi drew the first blood for his country in the shootout. 

Speaking to the reporters after the match where foul play was aplenty the Argentine talisman said his team felt the presence of the late great Maradona throughout the match. 

Argentina’s Lionel Messi clashes with the Netherlands’ assistant coach Edgar Davids after his team eliminated the Netherlands in a penalty shootout. REUTERS

“Diego is watching us from heaven. He is pushing us and I really hope this stays the same until the end,” Messi said.

“When Lautaro scored (the final penalty) and we qualified there was a huge joy. It was a weight off our chest,” Messi added. “It was a very hard match. From the beginning it was a really tough match, we knew it would be this way.”

There was no love lost between the two sides during the match and immediately after it. Both teams got into roughhouse tactics. The fact that a total of 16 yellow cards were shown throughout the contest by Spanish referee Antonio Mateu tells how it was played. Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni and his assistant Walter Samuel too were booked. Dutch striker Weghorst was booked before he even came on as substitute.

The Dutch – unbeaten in 19 matches going back to last year’s European Championship – threw caution to the wind and unleashed a brand of all-out-attacking football in the latter part of the contest. 

And the intensity of the game brought out Messi’s lesser known trait – uncharacteristically he lost his cool (so did his teammates on a number of occasions) and he showed his anger in both words and deeds. 

His celebrations were clearly off the mark.  

A third brawl of the match involving the Netherlands bench was the backdrop to Messi’s celebrations. The Dutch players could not just fathom the idea that they came so close to notching up one of the greatest comeback victories in the World Cup. They vented their anger and frustrations clashing with Argentine players. Dutch wingback Denzel Dumfries was sent off after the final whistle for his part in the final brawl.

After scoring Argentina's second goal Messi decided to celebrate in a very peculiar way by cupping his ears while staring at the Netherlands bench. He was imitating Argentina legend Juan Roman Riquelme. 

The Paris Saint-Germain star even confronted the Dutch coach Louis van Gaal and exchanged words with him and his assistant Edgar Davids after the win as other members of the Dutch support staff stopped him.

Van Gaal, 71, very well knew it would be premature curtains for his spell as coach, which was his third, if three times runners-up Dutch failed to advance to the semis. The veteran coach had already spiced up the match when he told the reporters his team had the advantage against Argentina in a penalty shootout. His winning-at-all -costs tactics during the match didn't impress Messi either. 

Messi clearly made a gesture at Davids with his hand, likely saying that they weren’t talking as much as before, now that his side was eliminated.

Even at a pitch-side interview after the match Messi looked irate. He was seen angrily talking to someone (maybe a reporter) looking away from his interviewer and the camera.

“I feel disrespected by van Gaal after his pre-game comments and some Dutch players spoke too much during the game,” Messi told the 
press later.

“Van Gaal sells that he plays good football and then he puts forwards in the box and starts throwing long balls. 

“We deserved to go through and that’s what happened.”

The Argentina captain also criticised the performance of referee Lahoz. 

“I don’t want to talk about referees because then they will sanction you, but we were scared before the game because we knew what was coming [with Mateu Lahoz],” Messi said. 

FIFA yesterday announced that its Disciplinary Committee has opened proceedings against the Argentinean Football Association and Dutch Football Association over misconduct of players and officials during the match. 

Messi’s adorable fans world over will hope that their hero can do without his ‘lesser-known trait’ in the semi-final against Croatia on Tuesday.