‘Had no contact with Guardiola’

Nathan Aké and Jurriën Timber seem to be the most important shields that the Orange can use on Friday evening (8 p.m.) against Argentina’s great little man: Lionel Messi. It is therefore not surprising that they appeared at the press conference on Tuesday afternoon. “He is one of the greatest players ever. It is a nice assignment to stop him,” says Aké.

The Manchester City defender is trained at his club by Pep Guardiola. Under that coach, Messi achieved great successes at Barcelona between 2008 and 2012. The Spaniard therefore knows all too well how Messi works. He could give Ake useful advice. However, that has not (yet) happened. “I have had no contact with Guardiola…”

Perhaps it shows how relaxed the players of the Netherlands are working towards the match against Argentina. Aké says that the players of the Netherlands have not talked much about Argentina’s star player after the victory. “We had relaxed days and didn’t think about Messi.”

Despite the “relaxed” preparation, there is one thing that Aké does not look at with a good feeling. The 27-year-old defender is on edge after a yellow card against Qatar. If he gets a card again, he is suspended for a possible next match. “That’s not fun to play. On the other hand, it’s important to win and then we’ll see who will play.”

In addition to Aké, Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt and Teun Koopmeiners are also on edge. Yellow cards are canceled at the World Cup after the quarter-finals.

If Argentina is defeated, the Netherlands will have won this World Cup against four ‘continent winners’. Qatar became champions of Asia, the United States of North America, Senegal of Africa and Argentina of South America.

Aké ensures that the focus will only be on Messi during the upcoming quarterfinals. “They have several good players. It will be a big game.” Also, according to Aké, it’s not just about him and Timber. “Tactics are also very important.”

The somewhat less talkative Timber agrees: “We have to do it as a team.”

In this way, the defender of Ajax hopes that the Netherlands can beat Argentina, just like in 1998. “We can all remember Dennis Bergkamp’s goal. We also want to make history.”