De Jong: 'Nobody knows how to stop Messi'

"I think the Netherlands has to play better than Argentina collectively, but Messi is of course the most dangerous," De Jong told ESPN on December 7. "We know Messi, but we don't know how to stop him. Messi has made a difference for the past 15 years, and there's no way to stop him. If so, every team would have done it."

De Jong joined Barca in 2019 for $ 83 million, and played with Messi for two seasons, winning one title - the Spanish King's Cup in 2021. Last summer, the Argentine star joined PSG on a free form. , and De Jong still wears Barca shirt.

The 25-year-old midfielder revealed that he has rarely spoken to Messi in the past two years, and stressed that stopping the Argentine star is not a player's job. "Normally, Messi will still make a difference even in training sessions. We have to stop Messi as a team," added De Jong.

At the 2014 World Cup, the Netherlands drew Argentina after 120 minutes, then lost 2-4 in penalty shootouts. This match, Messi did not score, but played fully and successfully kicked the first 11m.

According to De Jong, the opportunity is divided equally for the two teams in the rematch on the field at Lusail Stadium on December 9, but is confident that the Netherlands will win. He said: "The Netherlands want to do better than in 2014, because of course we want to win. The Netherlands will try to prevail against Argentina and control the game."

Meanwhile, Virgil van Dijk warned the Netherlands that Messi might not be very involved in defence, but would go out and be very dangerous when Argentina had the ball. "The difficult thing about Messi is that when we are attacking, he relaxes somewhere, on the edge or somewhere on the pitch," he said. "You have to organize a sharp defense. Argentina is always looking for Messi to create difficulties in counter-attack situations."

Van Dijk emphasized that the Netherlands needs to have a specific plan to stop Messi, and is confident that the whole team has proven its position as a championship candidate from the beginning of the tournament. The Netherlands kept the unbeaten streak, topping the group that included Qatar, Senegal, and Ecuador and then defeated the US 3-1 in the round of 16.

Meanwhile, Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia 1-2 in the opening round, beat Poland and Mexico to take the first place and beat Australia 2-1 in the knockout round.