Van Gaal is happy with how his team handled the last game in the group. Cody Gakpo and Frenkie de Jong helped him win, but the Europeans could have beaten the Qataris by a much larger margin.
The Dutch have thus dominated Group A with seven points and will be impatiently waiting for their round of 16 juice. From 8 p.m., Group B duels between England and Wales and Iran against the USA will be played. “I will follow it with special interest. I like that we will all be watching,” revealed the coach, who was also with the Dutch silver at the 2010 World Cup.
Editing of the World Cup match Netherlands – QatarVideo: Czech television
Van Gaal has now managed ten consecutive matches at the World Cup without losing (seven wins, three draws), which is the most in the history of the World Cup. Youngster Cody Gakpo helped him a lot, who scored in all three matches of the basic group.
“Scoring in all the duels is amazing, but we play as a team. We all help each other. We advanced to the round of 16, that’s what it’s all about. Now we must continue. Against Qatar, we were stronger on the ball than in previous matches, we controlled the duel more. But another win is important,” assessed the 23-year-old striker.
Van Gaal also spoke about the condition of his biggest offensive star Memphis Depay from Barcelona, who returned to football at the World Cup after a long injury. He was in the starting line-up for the first time against Qatar and substituted in the second half.
Cody Gakpo opens the scoring against Qatar.Video: Czech television
“Thanks to him, we are different, he is again involved in our goals. If we want to become world champions, he has to play. Today it was 65 minutes, five minutes longer than I said before. We mustn’t forget that he hasn’t played for 2 months,” the coach pointed out.
