Virgil van Dijk disagrees with former coach's claims that Lionel Messi, Argentina's World Cup win was planned
Louis van Gaal made quite a surprising statement but his former captain did not support it

While Argentina may have lifted the World Cup trophy in December, former Dutch manager Louis Van Gaal had quite the stance on how the tournament unfolded, claiming that it was "premeditated" to ensure that Lionel Messi won it. Van Gaal was involved in a wild match versus Argentina that went down to penalties in the quarterfinals as Messi scored a goal and assisted another. But the match was akin to a melee with 17 yellow cards handed out and the benches clearing after Leandro Paredes committed a foul which he followed up by booting the ball into the Dutch bench near the end of regulation. That match saw the Dutch come from two goals down late to force extra time in what was a classic World Cup affair.
The match had plenty of wild moments including Messi getting into it with Van Gaal after the game, calling Wout Weghorst an idiot and more.
"I do not really want to say much about it," Van Gaal told reporters. "When you see how Argentina scored their goals and how we scored our goals, and how some Argentina players overstepped the mark and were not punished, then I think it was all a premeditated game.
This wasn't a view shared by members of the team as Virgil van Dijk dismissed the claims made by his former manager.
"I heard it this morning, indeed," Van Dijk told NOS. "And that's pretty much it. It's his opinion of course. Everyone is allowed to have an opinion. I don't share the same opinion."
Of course, as a former manager, it is easier for Van Gaal to speak out than a current member of the national team but the Dutch federation also didn't comment on the matter. Van Gaal wanted players penalized for their actions which didn't happen en route to Argentina winning the World Cup.
Van Dijk just wants to move forward for European Championship qualifying matches where the Netherlands will face Greece and Ireland this month.
















