What is ‘Topo Gigio’? Messi uses Riquelme’s celebration to stick it to Van Gaal

Argentina emerged victorious after profitable the penalty shootout in opposition to the Netherlands within the World Cup quarterfinal on Friday evening, 9 December.

READ: Magical Messi steers Argentina to World Cup semifinals after all-time basic in opposition to the Netherlands

MESSI VERSUS VAN GAAL

After Argentina captain, Lionel Messi slotted dwelling a penalty to put his workforce two targets up within the 73^rd minute of regular time, the famous person put his arms to his ears and shot a defiant have a look at the Dutch bench.

The celebration is often called “Topo Gigio”, mostly related to one other Argentine nice, Juan Roman Riquelme.

There was a disagreement main up to Friday’s conflict. Dutch supervisor Van Gaal stated Messi “is the most dangerous player”, however “he does not play much with the opponent when he has possession of the ball. That is also where our chances lie.”

From the Argentine camp, winger Angel Di Maria as soon as described Van Gaal – who was the supervisor throughout his stint at Manchester United – because the worst supervisor of his profession. This remark resurfaced in press conferences previous the match.

“My problem at Manchester was the coach,” he stated. “Van Gaal was the worst of my career. I would score, assist, and the next day he would show me my misplaced passes. He displaced me from one day to the other. He didn’t like players being more than him,” stated Di Maria.

Years in the past, Van Gaal had an analogous fallout with Riquelme at Barcelona. The Argentina midfielder loved a storied profession at dwelling with Boca Juniors earlier than transferring to Spain in 2002, the place the Dutchman was the supervisor on the time.

Van Gaal described Riquelme as a ‘political signing’ from throughout the membership and handled him indifferently. When he performed, it was often out of place on the wing as a substitute of his most well-liked central attacking midfield function.

After the ultimate whistle, Messi approached the Dutch bench and appeared to have robust phrases for the technical workforce. According to Sky Sports, he gestured to the Dutch supervisor that he ‘speaks too much.’

A post-match interview additionally noticed Messi criticising the Dutch workforce for resorting to route-one soccer within the latter levels of the match. The tactic finally noticed them discover the equaliser.

“Van Gaal says that they play good football, but what he did was put on tall people and hit long balls,” he stated.

There was additionally a heated alternate with Dutch striker Wout Weghorst, who bagged two targets after coming off the bench.

While giving an interview Messi stated, “What are you looking at, you idiot? Go away,” after allegedly being provoked by the striker.

“Ever since he entered the game, he started provoking us, bumping into us, telling us things… I feel like that’s not part of football. I always respect everyone and I like it when they respect me too,” stated Messi of Weghorst.