Virgil van Dijk, the captain of the Netherlands national team and Liverpool, has dismissed claims made by his former coach Louis van Gaal that the World Cup in Qatar was rigged to help Lionel Messi win the trophy.
Van Gaal, who resigned as head coach after the tournament, raised eyebrows with his comments suggesting that Messi’s World Cup victory was “premeditated.
” However, Van Dijk strongly rejected these accusations, stating that he does not share the same opinion as his former manager.
When asked if he and the rest of the Dutch team stand behind Van Gaal’s words, Van Dijk simply responded with a firm “No.”
The Netherlands were knocked out by Argentina in the quarter-finals of the competition, in a highly intense match that saw 17 yellow cards and a red card for a Dutch defender.
Despite the fiery clash, Argentina managed to avoid any sending-offs, while the Netherlands fought back from a two-goal deficit to take the game to extra time.
Ultimately, Argentina emerged victorious, with goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez saving penalties from Van Dijk and Steven Berghuis.
As Van Dijk and the Netherlands prepare for their upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers, they currently sit in fourth place in their group, nine points behind leaders France.
This article was updated 4 weeks ago
