The Netherlands’ Virgil van Dijk wary of ‘tricky’ Lionel Messi

The Netherlands skipper Virgil van Dijk has issued a warning to his teammates ahead of their crucial encounter against Argentina on Friday.

The seasoned central defender says his teammates should be worried about Lionel Messi who can be tricky at any given moment.

Van Dijk, however, believes the FIFA World Cup quarter-final encounter is not about him facing Messi but The Netherlands up against the Argentine national team.

While the Paris St. Germain star, Messi, is not having a good World Cup tournament so far, the Oranje skipper says the Albi Celeste captain can still rise to the occasion.

“It is an honour to play against him,” van Dijk told the media in Qatar.

“It is 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.”

Having faced Messi on several occasions at the club and international level, the cool and collected defender added that Messi is such a difficult opponent.

“The difficult thing about him is when we are attacking, he is chilling somewhere in a corner or something,” remembered Van Dijk.

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

Argentina and the Netherlands last met in a World Cup quarter-final back in France ’98, with the latter winning 2-1.

Meanwhile, the former Barcelona star said he is fully aware that they have a difficult match on Friday night.

The nippy attacker also touched on their 2014 loss at the hands of Germany in Brazil back in 2014, saying he is grateful for the support.

“Another difficult one is coming,” he said to the press.

“These are incredible moments. We want to thank all the people who are here. The whole of Argentina would love to be here.”

Main Image: Lionel Messi & Virgil van Dijk/SkySports

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