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Attendance: 63,267
Netherlands national football team
World Cup | Semi-Finals
Jul 9, 2014 at 9pm UK
 
Argentina national football team

0-0

FT
(aet)
Argentina win 4-2 on penalties

Louis van Gaal: 'Lionel Messi under pressure to deliver'

Louis van Gaal believes that Lionel Messi has struggled to deliver on the biggest stage ahead of Wednesday's World Cup semi-final.

Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal has suggested that Lionel Messi will be feeling the pressure to deliver in Wednesday's semi-final in Sao Paulo.

Despite conceding that his side will have to be wary of the threat posed by the Argentina forward, Van Gaal believes that the 27-year-old has sometimes struggled to produce his best form on the biggest stage.

"We are playing against Argentina," the 62-year-old told reporters. "We're preparing a strategy for a team, not individual players, so I'll be ready for Argentina and their players.

"Messi has been elected the best player in the world. There's a reason for that. If you score so many goals, you have an added value, but on the most important stage, he hasn't always pulled it off.

"He's always found it difficult to do that at international level and he wants to change that at this tournament."

Dutch defender Stefan de Vrij has claimed that he is relishing the prospect of taking on Messi.

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Netherlands' forward Arjen Robben celebrates after scoring during a Group B football match between Spain and the Netherlands at the Fonte Nova Arena in Salvador during the 2014 FIFA World Cup on June 13, 2014
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Friday, July 5
 
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Spain
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Tuesday, July 9
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Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Germany Germany32107
Q Switzerland Switzerland31205
3 Hungary Hungary31023
4 Scotland flag Scotland30121

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain33009
Q Italy Italy31114
3 Croatia Croatia30212
4 Albania national flag Albania30121

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England31205
Q Denmark Denmark30303
Q Slovenia Slovenia30303
4 Serbia Serbia30212

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Austria Austria32016
Q France France31205
Q Netherlands Netherlands31114
4 Poland Poland30121

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania31114
Q Belgium Belgium31114
Q Slovakia Slovakia31114
4 Ukraine Ukraine31114

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal32016
Q Turkey Turkey32016
Q Georgia Georgia31114
4 Czech Republic Czech Republic30121


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