Lionel Messi overcame Louis van Gaal and the Netherlands last night to fire Argentina to the World Cup Semi-Final, where Juan Roman Riquelme was not forgotten about.
Some spectators noticed the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner uncharacteristically goading Van Gaal after dispatching a penalty in the 73rd minute to put his country 2-0 ahead, before Wout Weghorst stunned Argentina with a late brace.
Messi is usually the classiest man on the pitch, both in terms of sportsmanship as well as footballing ability, so why did he celebrate in front of Van Gaal after scoring from the spot? Let’s take a look…
Why did Messi celebrate in front of Van Gaal?
Well, Messi has not forgotten about how Van Gaal treated Riquelme – one of Argentina’s greats – during their time together at Barcelona, as the Dutchman almost ruined the South American’s career at the Camp Nou.
Van Gaal had already fallen out with another icon in Rivaldo, who he benched after the striker requested to play centrally rather than on the left, before later selling him to AC Milan in 2002 – despite the fact he won the Ballon d’Or in 1999.
In came Riquelme to replace the Brazilian, with Barcelona spending £7.1m to sign him from Boca Juniors in 2002.
However, Van Gaal seemed to take an immediate dislike to the Argentine, branding him a “political signing” by those at the Camp Nou in the wake of Rivaldo’s controversial exit.
In 2002, Van Gaal himself was only just returning to Catalonia for his second stint in charge, having left Barcelona in 2000, and he was keen to stamp his authority over another mercurial talent after what happened with Rivaldo.
According to the International Business Times, the straight-talking Dutchman said the following about Riquelme, critiquing his work rate out of possession: “You’re the best player when you have the ball, but when you don’t we play with one less.”
Van Gaal, like he did with Rivaldo, proceeded to use Riquelme on the wing despite his best performances previously coming from the centre of the field, and the Argentine unsurprisingly struggled.
Riquelme scored just six goals in 42 appearances for Barcelona, leaving in 2005 with many fearing that Van Gaal’s stubborn managerial style had ruined the career of an icon across Europe and South America.
Clearly, Messi still holds a grudge over Van Gaal for the way in which he treated one of Argentina’s finest ever footballers, as he stood tall, facing the dugout, while adopting the Boca Junior icon’s trademark celebration in defiant fashion.
Argentina vs Netherlands showed fiery side to Messi
As aforesaid, actions like these from the 35-year-old are very uncharacteristic, and suggest that there is a fire in his belly to bring the World Cup back to Argentina for the first time since 1986.
The PSG No.30 has won the Copa America for Argentina, and pretty much everything there is to win at club level – the World Cup is the only major trophy which eludes him, and he is clearly determined to change that.
At the age of 35, this is surely Messi’s final World Cup, and he seems to be on a personal mission to go out with a bang.