Unlike Van Gaal, Lionel Messi stops the interview to greet the Croatian coach
Lionel Messi produced a spectacular performance in the semi-finals against Croatia to help Argentina reach the finals on Sunday. Messi was in sublime form as he scored one and made two asss.
His noteworthy performance followed his vital role in Argentina’s win over the Dutch side which was a fiercely contested quarter-final.
After that match against the Netherlands, Messi directly confronted Louis Van Gaal. In another incident, Messi stopped a post-match interview to tell Netherlands forwards Wout Weghorst: “What are you looking at fool? Get back there.”
After the game against Croatia, the Argentine captain once again interrupted his post-match interview but this time it did not lead to anything controversial as he walked over to where Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalic was. The duo then shook hands, with Dalic appearing to wish Messi luck for the final.Subscriber Only StoriesPremiumPremiumPremiumPremium
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic had nothing but words of praise for Messi after the semi-final and admitted that Croatia suffered a deserved defeat.
“He is the best player in the world, he was dangerous and he has quality,” Dalic had said. “He has the technique and put in a high-level performance, it was the true Messi we expected to see.
“Argentina has an excellent team and Messi is a player of such quality and with thousands of supporters behind him, they play as they best see fit.
“Today they had four midfielders in the middle and we tried to play aggressively. But Messi can make one move and make a difference, which he did for the third goal,” he had added.