Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk has distanced himself from ‘rigging ‘ allegations made by Former Netherlands national team coach Louis Van Gaal.
The former United boss said that the 2022 World Cup was rigged in favour of Argentina’s Lionel Messi.
Hours after Van Gaal made his statement, Van Dijk, who also captains the Netherlands national team, refuted the claims.
Van Dijk refuted Van Gaal’s claims
The defender disowned that the 2022 World Cup was rigged in favour of Argentine football star Lionel Messi.
“I heard about it this morning, indeed,” says Van Dijk. “And that’s really it. It’s his opinion, of course. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I don’t share the same opinion.” He said.
Prearranged match
Van Gaal was at the Eredivisie Gala in Utrecht, where he received a career achievement award when he made the allegations.
“When you see how Argentina scores goals and how we score goals, and how some of Argentina’s players crossed the line without being punished, then I think it’s all a prearranged game,” Van Gaal said.
When asked what he meant exactly, Van Gaal said, “I mean everything I say. That Messi had to become world champion? I think so, yes.”
Messi celebrates
Messi provided an assist and scored from a penalty after a minor foul by Dumfries.
He then celebrated provocatively towards Van Gaal.
After the match, Messi even approached the Dutch national team’s coach and told him to keep quiet.
Leading up to the quarterfinal, Van Gaal had reportedly said that Argentina was vulnerable because Messi didn’t contribute much to defending.
The match ended in a 2-2 draw, with the Netherlands equalizing in the eleventh minute of injury time from a free-kick.
Argentina eventually won after a penalty shootout, during which Van Dijk and Steven Berghuis missed for the Netherlands.
The Dutch team is currently preparing in Zeist for the UEFA European Championship qualifiers against Greece (Thursday) and Ireland (Sunday).
