Argentina and the Netherlands will face each other, starting at 4 pm (Brasília time) this Friday (9) at the Lusail Stadium, in search of a place in the semifinal of the Qatar Cup. Whoever triumphs in this confrontation will pick the winner of Brazil and Croatia, who will enter the field from 12:00 onwards at Estádio Cidade da Educação.
Both teams are having a good campaign so far in the World Cup. Despite stumbling in its debut, when it lost to Saudi Arabia, Argentina recovered and showed strength to reach the quarterfinals, after overcoming Mexico and Poland still in the group stage and beating Australia in the round of 16. The highlight of the team is Lionel Messi, the brothers’ top scorer in the Cup with three goals.
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According to a statement by the Argentina coach, Lionel Scaloni, at a press conference, the confrontation with the Netherlands promises to be a great game: “It will be a beautiful match to watch, between two teams that intend to attack. And Holland proposes to attack and knows how to defend itself. I think that’s what football is.”
Despite not having a showy football, the Dutch are still undefeated in the competition, with three wins and a draw. Orange’s campaign began with a 2-0 victory over Senegal. Then came the 1-1 draw with Ecuador and the 2-0 triumph over Qatar. In the round of 16, the Netherlands beat the United States 3-1.
And to try to move forward in the competition, coach Van Gaal made it clear that it will be necessary to stop Messi in the match. “I will not tell you [o que faremos para parar Messi], because there I deliver my tactic. But it’s not that hard to imagine,” she declared.
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The Netherlands and Argentina have met six times in World Cups. The last one was in the semifinal of the 2014 World Cup (Brazil), when, after a goalless draw, the brothers reached the final with a victory in the penalty shootout.
In the 2006 World Cup (Germany) the teams were also 0-0, but in the group stage. In the 1998 World Cup (France), the Netherlands won 2-1 to eliminate Argentina in the quarterfinals. For the second phase of the 1974 Cup (Germany), the Clockwork Orange thrashed by 4 to 0. But four years later the brothers responded in great style, winning by 3 to 1 to retain the title of the World Cup disputed in Argentina.
* Collaboration of Pedro Dabés (intern) under the supervision of Verônica Dalcanal.
