A classic on the cards

One of the two greatest careers will have a sad ending today at a World Cup as Argentina and the Netherlands square off in the quarter-finals.
From the beginning the focus has been firmly on Lionel Messi, one of the greatest ever to have played the game. The Argentina superstar, playing in his fifth World Cup, has admitted Qatar will be his last tournament with his teammates and la Albiceleste’s passionate fan base rooting for him to lift a trophy that has eluded him all these years.
At the other end today there is Louis van Gaal, the Dutch coach at 71 plotting his country’s first world title and giving himself a fitting farewell to his illustrious career. Then there is also the small matter of this game at the Lusail Stadium having all the trappings of becoming a classic.
Eight years ago in Sao Paulo, Brazil, van Gaal saw a place in the final slip away after his side were beaten in penalties by Argentina in the semi-finals, adding to the pain of losing to the South Americans in the 1978 final.
“I don’t like to think about it,” van Gaal had said earlier this week before adding, “We have a score to settle.”
The two teams have made it to the quarters despite a huge question mark over their ability to go all the way. The Netherlands are one of the three unbeaten teams remaining in Qatar, but van Gaal’s conservative tactics – a departure from the traditional 4-3-3 the Dutch usually play – has come for criticism back home.
Van Gaal has been a popular figure in Qatar – the oldest coach in the tournament. He has been swarmed by the international media for selfies after the press conferences, while he also gave a hug to a reporter from Senegal. But his home media have been less affirmative of his ways.
Ahead of the Argentina game, van Gaal was not a happy man as he went on the offensive yesterday, defending his tactic of counter-attacking game rather than the all-out offensive approach he used to employ in his earlier coaching days.
“I get the same question from you every time but you don’t understand that football is evolving,” he said.
“It’s a lot harder now to play attacking football than it was 20 years ago when I was coach of Ajax. When I came up with that more defensive system in 2014 (at the World Cup in Brazil), I also received a lot of criticism but now half the world plays like that. Football has evolved towards it.
“At this World Cup we see that the results are very tight, even between big teams and supposedly smaller countries, because compact defending is simply easier than attacking. But it’s not true if it seems we are only defending. I hope that is clear now,” said van Gaal, who has won more than 20 titles as a manager, working at clubs such as Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United.
Van Gaal is confident his pragmatic approach can deliver the title to Netherlands, who have finished runner-up on three occasions on the big stage in 1974, 1978 and 2010.
“We are also a country that has a chance to become world champions because I hope we are the best team,” said the veteran manager, who considers Brazil to be the top contenders.
Every match Argentina has played at the World Cup in Qatar has turned itself into an occasion. Each time Messi and his teammates have had the ball at their feet or in the net, there is a sense of Buenos Aires having come to Doha.
The support from la Albiceleste’s passionate fan base has been so overwhelming in the stadiums across Qatar, that travelling supporters have stayed back in the stands drumming and dancing, much after Argentina players have gone inside to the dressing room after the match.
But like the Netherlands’, Argentina go into the quarters with not many convinced they have the depth to challenge for the title. The two-time champions bounced back admirably if not spectacularly after their opening game shock to Saudi Arabia. Driven by Messi, the team is devoted to their captain’s desire of a World Cup title but have not yet displayed the cutting edge a squad needs to possess to win a global showpiece event.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said his team was prepared to give 100% effort at the Lusail Stadium. “We know that our team will break their backs as we have done in previous games,” the 44-year-old, the youngest coach in Qatar said.
“Sometimes we’ve played very well, sometimes not that well, but we have always stood up for ourselves and that’s the thing that our people value. We know that we will give it all on the pitch. We know that football sometimes can be very beautiful and sometimes it can be cruel.”
Scaloni was guarded in response when asked if Angel di Maria would be available for today’s game. Forward Di Maria missed the last-16 victory over Australia due to a left thigh injury, Rodrigo De Paul’s is also reportedly not hundred percent.
“In principle, they’re feeling well and we will see in today’s training and come up with a lineup,” he said.
“Yesterday, we trained behind closed doors so I don’t know where this information is coming from ... (but) the team comes first, so if you’re out on the field, you must be fit so that you can help the team.”
In the last two World Cup meetings between Argentina and Netherlands, in the group stage in 2006 and a semi-final in 2014 which the Albiceleste won on penalties, neither side was able to score a goal in normal or extra time.
Scaloni said Argentina had been practising spot-kicks but hoped the match did not come down to a shootout.
“They always take penalties before and after matches but it’s all about luck when it comes to the penalty shootout,” he said.
“I hope we don’t get to the penalty shootout, we hope the match is over before that.”