DOHA, Qatar—Andries Noppert is ready to face Lionel Messi if the Argentina star takes a penalty kick in Friday’s World Cup quarterfinal match.
“He’s the same like us. He’s a human,” the Netherlands goalkeeper said Wednesday.
Messi has scored 21 goals in 26 penalty kick attempts for Argentina among his 94 international goals. He converted his spot kick to put Argentina ahead in the opening 2–1 loss to Saudi Arabia, then had his penalty saved by Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny as Argentina won 2–0 to reach the round of 16.
The 6-foot-8 Noppert was released from second-division Dutch club Dordrecht at the end of the 2019–20 season, joined the top league’s Go Ahead Eagles in January 2021 and moved to Heerenveen this season….