Van Dijk's humbling of the superb Messi at the World Cup

The World Cup in the Middle East delivered one of the best matches so far of the Qatar 2022 tournament. Argentina and the Netherlands exhausted every opportunity to reach the penalty shootout. Our captain Virgil van Dijk's team fell with their heads held high, after coming from behind in regular time, tying the game at two, playing with great intensity in extra time and falling in the "eleven steps" of a heart-stopping game.

Argentina had not won a World Cup for 36 years. The last time they did so was in Mexico 1986, where, thanks to one of the best players in history, Diego Armando Maradona, the Albicelestes won their second star. Since then, frustration has driven the South Americans to the limit and they celebrate every victory in an extreme way, with taunts and foul language. For this match against the Dutch, it was no exception.

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Eighty minutes into the quarter-final in Lusail, when a superb Lionel Messi rubbed his goal in the face of Louis van Gaal's coach and technical staff, causing indignation among the Europeans who decided to take that action as an inspiration to reverse the situation. Ten minutes were all it took for van Dijk to command an equaliser, the Liverpool FC defender becoming an extra striker, and from his position, the Netherlands equalised.

Taking the game into extra time, van Dijk in the centre circle, chatted loudly and inspired the national team of "The Tulips" to take the game to a one-on-one shootout. The Red's superstar not only showed Messi and his team-mates that in football, nothing is set in stone. Unfortunately for "The Oranje", the "Albiceleste" were better and only missed one penalty, which was combined with a great performance by goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

Van Dijk is better than Messi

Over the next few hours, social media was ablaze after the final picture of Argentina qualifying, and players like Otamendi, Martinez, Montiel, Allister and Di Maria enjoyed the moment in the face of the Dutch, who had to endure the bitter pill. At the same time, Van Dijk took the opportunity to apologise to his team-mates after missing his penalty, and commanded the group to thank the fans who had gathered in Qatar.