“I didn’t ask Pep for advice to stop Messi”

Defender Nathan Aké praised Leo Messi, who he will face on Friday in the match that the Netherlands will play against Argentina in the quarterfinals of the Qatar 2022 World Cup and who he knows well from his past at Barça Pep Guardiola, coach of Manchester City where defender ‘orange’ plays.

Aké, therefore, could have asked his coach for advice on how to stop Messi, but declared that “I have no contact with Guardiola”. Of the Argentine star, he highlighted that “he is one of the best players of all time. Stopping him will be very difficult.”

Not just Messi

However, Aké recalled that Argentina “is not just Messi. They have other good players and it will be a great game. Also, tactics will also be important.”

The Netherlands rested after defeating the United States on Saturday and reaching the quarterfinals. He will resume training this Wednesday and begin studying the match against Argentina.

“No, we haven’t talked about it yet. We’ve been relaxing for a few days and we haven’t thought about Messi yet,” said Nathan Aké, who was threatened with suspension for seeing a yellow card like Frankie de Jong , Matthijs de Ligt and Teun Koopmeiners.

Julian Álvarez, teammate and rival

“It is not easy to play like this, although the first thing is the team, it is to win. Also, you have to see who will play the game,” said the defender, who will meet again at the Lusail stadium with the Argentine attacker Julián Álvarez who, Like him, he plays for Manchester City. “He is a very technical footballer and difficult to mark. He finishes every game very well. It will be a challenge with Julián and Messi in front of him”, he highlighted.

Finally, Aké identified a factor to consider, the support of the albiceleste in the stands. “We saw the games in Argentina and we know that they have great support and their fans are very happy. They create a great atmosphere and you can see that they love football, that they enjoy it,” warned the Manchester City defender.