Lionel Messi's masterful approach leads Argentina into World Cup semifinal vs. Croatia

Chris Jones is in Qatar covering the men's World Cup for CBC Sports.

This men's World Cup, the soccer itself, has bordered on unbelievable. All four quarter-finals were thrilling and desperate, two decided by penalties, two by a single goal. Given a thousand moments of drama and grace, one still stands out. It was a pass.

Louis van Gaal, the head coach for the Netherlands, 71 years old and plain spoken, had been pressed the day before his team faced Argentina — more specifically, before his team faced Lionel Messi — on his plans to shut down one of the greatest players in the history of the game.

"We're not going to reveal that to you," Van Gaal told the unfortunate reporter who'd asked. "I'm not going to reveal our tactics to you, which would be pretty stupid."

Van Gaal then had a change of heart. "It's not that difficult to come up with an answer," he said. "You could have come up with an answer yourself. You may want to block and close the passing lanes."

Essentially, Van Gaal conceded that his defence could not stop Messi. The only hope was to prevent him from getting the ball in the first place.

It was fascinating to watch Van Gaal's scheme unfold over the first third of the match. Rather than mark Messi closely, a Dutch player took up position in the space between him and each of his teammates. Messi looked like the sun on the Argentine flag, encircled by a half-dozen Dutch in bright orange, impersonating its rays.

Playing in what he has said will be his last World Cup, the 35-year-old rarely touched the ball. When he did, he was compelled to get rid of it quickly. His one early shot, in the 22nd minute, came from well outside the box and flew high and wide. The Dutch were never going to give him his moment.

Then: