Holland Coach Louis van Gaal has revealed that his team captain, Robin van Persie, is currently suffering from stomach problems and may not be able to participate in the semifinals against Argentina on Wednesday.

"He has a stomach problem, an intestinal problem. I don't know (if he will play)," Van Gaal said in a press conference.

However, he assured that he Manchester United center- forward has a high possibility to play in the match, regardless.

"I will decide (on Wednesday). Van Persie is our captain so he is very important to us. In principle my captain always plays, but he has to be fit."

"If his reaction is good and he can play, then the miracle can come true," Van Gaal said, talking about Nigel de Jong's first appearance for this World Cup, after a bad groin injury.

The 30-year-old captain reportedly says that he dreams about holding the team's very first World Cup, and that is his main focus right now. But they have to get past Argentina first.

"In general I give the players two days to recover, so if you have one day less it's an issue, a problem," Van Gaal said. "But a top athlete can perform so my players will be in shape."

"The chances are it will be later, because I think Argentina are a notch higher than Costa Rica," the coach said, predicting that all the action would be in the penalty shoot outs.

Regarding guarding Argentina's talisman, Lionel Messi, Van Gaal said, "We are playing against Argentina. We always refer to teams and not individual players. We have a plan ready for Argentina."

"If you score so many goals, you have an added value. At the most important stage he can always pull it off," he added, still talking about Messi's achievement of being voted as world footballer of the year.

"In principle he's always found it difficult to show that at international level. He wants to do that at this tournament and we want to stop him doing that, so that's going to be quite a challenge."

With reports from: theguardian.com