Louis van Gaal believes Lionel Messi has a weakness for Argentina that his Netherlands side can exploit in their upcoming World Cup quarter-final.
Messi scored the opener in his side's Round of 16 victory over Australia to continue his fine form at the World Cup – where he has now scored three goals in four appearances – as he spearheaded his nation through to the quarter-finals, where they will face Van Gaal's side.
In the group stages, the 35-year-old attacker found the net in Argentina's shock opening-match loss against Saudi Arabia and also netted in a vital victory for Lionel Scaloni's side against Mexico, and while he did not find the net against Poland, he played an important role in his side's two-goal win.
The Paris Saint-Germain star is set to play a decisive role for his nation in their finely-balanced last-eight tie against the Netherlands; who eliminated the United States in the Round of 16 having topped Group A with wins over Senegal and Qatar.
However, their hopes of progressing through to the final four of the World Cup may prove to be largely dependent on how they deal with the threat of Messi. But Netherlands boss Van Gaal believes they may have a tactical plan to not only nullify his threat but exploit his weakness out of possession.
Van Gaal told reporters on Tuesday: "Messi is the most dangerous creative player, he is able to create a lot and to score goals himself. But when they lose the ball he doesn't participate much, this gives us chances."
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The former Manchester United boss was then pushed on what sort of tactical plan he would devise in order to deal with Messi, to which Van Gaal replied: "You will see on Friday. I won't tell you."
Messi will face his former Barcelona teammate Frenkie de Jong during the game, with the midfielder explaining when asked if he knew how to prevent Messi from excelling: "Well, no. I know him, but I don't know how to stop him. He's been making the difference for 15 years and there is not one way to stop him."
The midfielder continued: "Well, usually he would still make the difference during training too. We just have to stop him as a team. We haven't texted each other. I am not planning to. We will see each other on Friday."
