World Cup 2022: Messi Slams Van Gaal After Fiery Argentina v Netherlands Tie

• Argentina's Lionel Messi lashed out at the Netherlands Louis Van Gaal's tactics
• La Albiceleste had the final laugh despite being pegged down from two goals up
• Messi was seen addressing someone angrily during a post-match interview

Lionel Messi was incensed with the Netherlands' Head Coach Louis Van Gaal after a highly-tempered World Cup quarter-final match.

Argentina beat the Netherlands on post-match penalties to set up a semi-final date with Croatia, but the game was marred by ugly confrontations.

Nahuel Molina and Messi had put Argentina on their way with a goal in each half, only for Wout Weghorst to score a late brace to restore parity. Argentina's goalkeeper Emi Martinez saved two spot kicks to help his side go through.

Van Gaal vs Messi

After the final whistle, Messi was seen exchanging a few words with Van Gaal. Before the game, the Dutch coach had opined that he had an idea on how to stop Messi - a plan that failed to materialise as the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner pulled the strings once again.

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Messi was livid that Van Gaal preached the idea of good football, but resorted to long balls to get back into the game.

"Van Gaal says that they play good football, but what he did was put on tall people and hit long balls," as quoted by Sky Sports.

In a separate video, Messi is spotted stopping his post-match interview to lash out at someone not in the video. It cannot be ascertained if it was Van Gaal he was addressing, but some believe it was.

Messi slams referee Lahoz

Sports Brief also reported that Messi said referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz should not have officiated in Argentina's tempestuous shootout victory over the Netherlands, in the World Cup quarter-finals at the Lusail Stadium.

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La Albiceleste won on penalties early on Saturday after a dramatic 2-2 draw, in which Dutch substitute Weghorst scored twice late on.

This included a last-gasp equaliser from a short free kick, awarded when German Pezzella shoved over Weghorst.

Messi World Cup's most fouled

Sports Brief had earlier reported that Argentina international Messi has now been fouled 65 times in World Cup matches, beating the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Jairzinho on the list.

The only player who has won a foul more than Messi in the history of the World Cup is late Diego Maradona, who was on 152.