World Cup – The photo of the Argentines who provoke the Dutch: the symbol of a match full of animosity

It was almost a classic in the history of the World Cup. For long minutes, this Netherlands-Argentina however long looked like a quarter-final without a story other than the one, already told, Messi’s genius. And then, it all came crashing down. Under the impetus of Louis van Gaal’s coaching, the Netherlands regained confidence, closed the gap for a completely crazy end to the match.

While the overall mood of the match had been quite correct until then, the reduction of the Dutch gap and the Argentines’ desire to save time completely changed the game. It was a war, with blows, tackles, bad gestures and bad attitudes. The scuffle caused by Leandro Paredes after a dangerous tackle and clearance sequence on the opposing bench symbolized this mutual hatred, also reinforcing certain eternal resentments, such as that between the Dutch coach and Angel Di Maria.

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In short, it was therefore a succession of rough contacts and a muscular mano a mano. So when Argentina validated their ticket to the semi-finals after a penalty shootout, the Albiceleste players could not hold back, deliberately going to provoke the Dutch. This photo, here it is and everyone will have their own opinion.

Messi very pissed off by van Gaal

But the sweetness of a qualification in the last four did not bring down these warm-blooded and decidedly emotional Argentines. Afterwards, Messi headed to the Dutch bench to explain himself to van Gaal and Edgar Davids. Moreover, according to the Argentine press, the celebration of Messi after his penalty scored was intended for the Dutch coach, who had affirmed in a press conference Thursday that the Argentine captain only took action when the ball was in his area.

At the microphone of Argentine TV, Lionel Messi, yet not the bloodiest of all, was very upset against Louis van Gaal (and also a lot against the referee). “Van Gaal repeats to you that he is playing a good game but they only sent long balls“, he notably dropped. “It’s true that it hurt Leo a littleacknowledged Lionel Scaloni after the match. I don’t want to give advice to van Gaal but doing this makes Messi play very emotionally“.

Lionel Messi celebrates his goal with Argentina against the Netherlands

Credit: Getty Images

Messi, again, was still in a bellicose mood when responding to Argentinian television just after the match. While a Dutch player seemed to be watching him a little too closely, the number 10 had a very attacking attitude. “What are you looking at?! Get out of there“, he blurted in the direction of a player who does not appear in the frame of the camera. To the point that it was the Argentine journalist who calmed the Pulga.

On the Dutch side, the words were less violent. Only van Gaal, precisely, criticized the attitude of the Argentines. “All the time they won…“, he explained in reference to the seconds scraped by the troop of Scaloni. In short, a burning end to the match for a rivalry which added another episode to an already loaded saga.

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