Louis van Gaal said that Lionel Messi and Argentina’s World Cup win in Qatar was “premeditated”.
The 36-year-old forward defeated the Netherlands, then managed by Van Gaal, in the quarter-final, scoring in normal time before guiding his country to a 4-3 win on penalties.
Van Gaal, who resigned as head coach following the Netherlands’ World Cup exit, believes that the tournament was rigged so that Messi could finally win the trophy that had always eluded him.
Van Gaal was speaking at the Eredivisie Awards on Tuesday, where he was recognised for his contribution to Dutch football.
After journalists asked the 72-year-old to clarify what he meant, the former boss said: ‘I mean everything I say. That Messi should become world champion? I think so, yes.’
Scoring after a glorious diagonal pass from Messi, Nahuel Molina took the lead for Argentina in the quarter-final before his captain doubled their advantage from the penalty spot in the 73rd minute.
Dutch substitute Wout Weghorst then inspired a dramatic comeback with two late goals, equalising in the 11th minute of added time to keep Netherlands in the tournament.
An astonishing 16 yellow cards were dished out across both teams in the quarter-final clash, before Netherlands right-back Denzel Dumfries was sent off deep into extra time.
Former Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal has claimed that Lionel Messi winning the World Cup last year might have been planned. He added that the Argentine players were not punished in the match which saw them eliminate his Dutch side.
Argentina were up 2-0 in the quarter-final when the Netherlands made a stunning late comeback to take take the game into extra time. There were no goals in the 30 added mins, and the South American side pulled off the win in the penalty shoot-out.
Speaking to NOS, Van Gaal has remarked that Argentina were helped by the referees as the players were not punished for crossing the line. He added that the FIFA World Cup might have been rigged to help Messi win:
“I don’t really want to say much about it. If you see how Argentina gets the goals and how we get the goals and how some of Argentina’s players crossed the line and weren’t punished, then I think it’s all preconceived game.
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