Virgil van Dijk gives response to being asked how he is preparing to stop Messi

The Netherlands and Argentina will face off for a place in the World Cup semi-finals on Friday and there will be an interesting battle within the clash between Virgil van Dijk and Lionel Messi. 

The two are regarded as their country’s best players and have met each other on several occasions, with the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner coming out on top for the most part.

However, this will be the biggest stage the pair meet on and with Messi enjoying a good tournament so far in Qatar, reporters wanted to ask one of the world’s best defenders how he is preparing to

Speaking about how he is preparing to face Messi at a press conference today, Van Dijk said via Sky Sports: “One of the best players of all time maybe, obviously, he has done it for so many years.

“I would say him [Messi] and Cristiano Ronaldo have been the two stand-out players of the last two decades. There is only respect towards what they have achieved.

“For us now, it’s not just a case of just preparing for him [Messi], we’re preparing to beat Argentina and obviously, we know how big a part he is to their success over the years.”

Portuguese reporters left shocked with Ronaldo’s behaviour in training following Switzerland win


Portuguese reporters were left stunned at the national team’s camp in Qatar today as they observed the behaviour of Cristiano Ronaldo following Portugal’s 6-1 win over Switzerland on Tuesday.

Fernando Santos’ team put in a very impressive display against the Swiss and did so without Cristiano Ronaldo, who was dropped to the bench for the last-16 clash following his poor performances in the tournament thus far.

As the 37-year-old was a substitute, the normal scenario that plays out the day after a match is that the subs train together whilst the starting 11 recover with a gym session.

However, Ronaldo reportedly decided against training with the rest of his fellow last-16 substitutes on the pitch on Wednesday and took it upon himself to join the gym session instead.

According to Spanish newspaper Marca, the Portuguese press in the national side’s camp were surprised as they saw Ronaldo involved in the gym session with the starting 11 – designed to help them recover ahead of their next match.

Ronaldo is said to be in perfect physical condition and made the decision himself.

The reason for this is unknown but it is yet another unusual act performed by the superstar over the last few months.