Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk has insisted that Argentina will not be carried by Lionel Messi during their World Cup quarter-final.
The two teams face each other in the last eight of this year's tournament on Friday after they defeated the United States and Australia in the last 16. Argentina have been accused of relying on Messi's magic to reach this stage of the World Cup.
He has scored three goals so far and played crucial roles in the wins over Mexico, Poland and the Socceroos. But Van Dijk has now warned his team-mates that Argentina will have quality all over the pitch on Friday night and their focus cannot just be on Messi.
"He’s one of the best players of all time, obviously. He has done it for so many years. I would say he and Cristiano Ronaldo have been the standout players of the last two decades," he said.
"There is only respect towards what they have achieved but, for us now, it is not a case of preparing just to face him. We are preparing to beat Argentina. Obviously we know how big a part of their success he has been over the years.
"But it’s not about me, or the Netherlands, against Messi, it’s about the Netherlands against Argentina. [We’re not] worried no, but cautious of what Argentina can bring to the game.
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"They are a fantastic team with fantastic players, and we are going to have to do well in all departments of the match."
The Netherlands were solid against the United States and claimed a win thanks to goals from Memphis Depay, Daley Blind and Denzel Dumfries. But Van Dijk has demanded an improved performance from the Oranje against Argentina.
He also insisted that the Netherlands are not concerned by the prospect of a penalty shootout. Instead he is remaining calm about the possibility of the match being decided in that way.
"We also feel that our play in the last game [against the USA] could have been better. We are all perfectionists and could like to have performed better. But what is nice is that we are still in the competition and playing in the quarter-finals," he added.
"It doesn’t guarantee in a game, where you play in a full stadium with 80,000 people and there is a semi-final at stake that everything will go the same, but we try to do as much as possible in order to be ready for it.
"Hopefully we won’t come to that stage and we can decide the game before getting to extra time or penalties, but if the time comes we have to be ready for it. We have practised as much as possible."
The winner of Friday's clash at Lusail Iconic Stadium will meet Brazil or Croatia in the semi-finals. The Netherlands have never won the World Cup, despite reaching the final three times, while Argentina last lifted the trophy in 1986.
