Louis van Gaal believes the World Cup was manipulated in favor of Lionel Messi.
WHAT HAPPENED? Coach icon Louis van Gaal believes the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was rigged in favor of superstar Lionel Messi and his Argentina national team. Van Gaal failed with his Elftal in the quarterfinals at the eventual winner.
WHAT WAS SAID? “When you see how Argentina get the goals, how we get the goals and how some Argentinian players went over the target and didn’t get penalized, I think it was a deliberate game,” van Gaal told Dutch TV Channel NOS. When asked, he emphasized: “I mean everything as I say it. That Messi should be world champion? I think so, yes.”
WHAT IS THE BACKGROUND? Messi’s Argentines were defeated by Germany in the quarter-finals of the 2006 and 2010 World Cups. The final bankruptcy at the 2014 World Cup was followed by a knockout round against France in 2018 and the title in 2022. It was the last important trophy that the multiple world footballer Messi was still missing in his collection.
It was 2-2 after 90 minutes in the World Cup quarter-finals against the Netherlands, and Lautaro Martinez converted the penalty shoot-out decisively. Referee Mateu Lahoz from Spain handed out a total of 16 yellow cards and dismissed Dutchman Denzel Dumfries. The 72-year-old van Gaal, who used to work for FC Bayern Munich, ended his coaching career after the World Cup (for the time being), Messi now plays for the MLS club Inter Miami.
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2023-09-05 19:03:06
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