You don't want to mess with Virgil van Dijk.
The Netherlands captain absolutely flattened Argentina's Leandro Parades in the midst of a brief brawl on the pitch between coaching staff and players alike. The midfielder had just clattered into Nathan Ake and booted the ball away, when coaches came racing off of their benches and players squared up to one another.
Van Dijk came running up from centre-back and stood up strongly to Parades. The very presence of the Liverpool defender knocked Parades to the ground.
Well... that escalated quickly! 😳#BBCFootball #BBCWorldCup pic.twitter.com/k2t1Or95gzDecember 9, 2022
In an otherwise tepid first half, the difference simply had to be Lionel Messi. The little genius may not have scored the decisive opener but managed to thread the assist through the eye of a needle to open the scoring for the Albaceleste, as Nahuel Molina of Atletico Madrid finished the chance exquisitely. It was one of the most memorable assists of the World Cup so far and a fantastic finish to boot.
Messi had to have his name on the scoresheet too, of course. Denzel Dumfries brought down Marcos Acuna after 70 minutes for what was a stonewall penalty and of course, the captain was going to step up to take it. Calmly, Messi strode up to the ball and dispatched it with Dutch goalkeeper Andries Noppert rooted to the spot as the ball flew past him. With the goal, Messi netted the tenth World Cup goal of his career.
With the Netherlands trying to feel their way into the game rather than take it by storm, much of the attention centred on Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz. Sergio Aguero tweeted about the man in black, with Twitter joining in to deride Mateu Lahoz for wanting to be the centre of attention.
The winner of the Netherlands and Argentina faces Croatia in the semi-final next week.
