Lionel Messi rips into Van Gaal's managerial style: 'He says they play good football...'

Argentine captain Lionel Messi provided a scathing assessment of Dutch manager Louis van Gaal's style of football after his side beat the Netherlands 4-3 on penalties (scores tied at 2-2 after extra time). The 35-year-old was the architect of Argentina's win as he assisted his side's first goal before scoring from the penalty spot himself. After Messi scored his goal, he seemingly directed a celebration at Van Gaal and then confronted the Dutch coach after a fiesty Argentina vs Netherlands clash.

Lionel Messi slams Van Gaal's managerial style

While speaking to reporters after Argentina vs Netherlands FIFA World Cup game, Lionel Messi said, "I feel disrespected by Van Gaal after his pregame comments and some Dutch players spoke too much during the game. Van Gaal tells that he plays good football and then he puts forwards in the box and starts throwing long balls. We deserved to go through and that's what happened."

Messi hit back at Louis Van Gaal after the 71-year-old told Dutch publication NOS, "Messi is indeed the most dangerous player who creates the most chances and also makes them himself. But on the other hand, he does not play much with the opponent when he has possession of the ball. That is also where our chances lie."

And it was not just the Dutch coach that irked Lionel Messi as he was also extremely critical of Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz. Speaking of him, the 35-year-old told Argentine TV, "I don't want to talk about the referee because you can't be honest. If you talk they sanction you; FIFA must think about it, they can't put a referee who isn't up to the task for these instances."

Messi and co will now have to put their emotions aside and focus on the upcoming FIFA World Cup semi-final clash against Croatia. Croatia made it through to the last four after beating one of the pre-tournament favourites in Brazil on penalties. Despite registering just one shot on target throughout the match, Croatia managed to keep the scores tied at 1-1 at the end of extra time before beating Brazil 4-2 on penalties.