Former Netherlands Head Coach Louis Van Gaal has made some damning charges against the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Argentina won their first World Cup since 1986, defeating reigning champions France in an exhausting final at the Lusail Stadium on December 18.
It was a wonderful turnaround for Messi, who made it all the way despite his team losing 2-1 to Saudi Arabia in their opening group encounter. They subsequently defeated Mexico and Poland to go to the knockout stages.
The Albiceleste defeated Australia in the round of 16, Van Gaal’s Netherlands in the quarterfinals, and Croatia in the final four.
Van Gaal has now alleged that the games were planned in advance and set up for Messi to complete a fairytale football.
“I’m not going to talk anything about it.
“When you see how Argentina gets goals and how we get goals, and how some Argentina players overstepped the mark and were not punished, I think it was all a premeditated game,” Van Gaal remarked, as quoted by Dutch daily De Telegraaf.
Except for the final, Argentina vs. the Netherlands was one of the tournament’s games. Lionel Scaloni’s team had raced to a 2-0 lead when Wout Weghorst came off the bench to score a quick-fire brace and force the game to extra time and penalties.
