“We have scores to settle,” says van Gaal
The Netherlands will face Argentina and Messi at the World Cup. Anew. The chances are not bad. Thanks to coach Louis van Gaal, who at the age of 71 hasn’t lost any of his class, his bite and his sense of humour.
PAs the song progresses, Louis van Gaal swings his hips slightly into the line of employees, carrying his phone in his right hand, and the Shakira hit “Waka, Waka” blares from the speakers in the entrance area of the team hotel St. Regis on the Persian Gulf. . The trainer laughs, hugs two hotel employees, films the spectacle and then happily disappears from the small video snippet. It’s hard to believe that a 71-year-old is on an important mission here.
Louis van Gaal convinces at the World Cup with his relaxed, positive manner
What: REUTERS
The small scene documents the unusual looseness of the Bonds coach, who is writing a success story together with the Dutch selection at the World Cup in Qatar. With him as the protagonist, as a good-mood uncle, as Louis van Genial. The entertainer once made the word “celebration beast” acceptable among World Cup coaches at FC Bayern when he became the first Dutch coach to win the German championship in 2010. And twelve years later, at the Winter World Cup in Qatar, he shows that he still has the skills that make a good coach: a small party like after the quarter-finals in the team hotel, including a reception by the staff and total focus before the duel Lionel Messi’s Argentines on Friday (8pm). “We want to be world champions. I said that early on and my players accepted that goal,” explains van Gaal. “Even if it’s not the greatest opportunity, we want to seize it.”
He and his team can go into the game with confidence. Since he started his third spell as Bonds coach in July 2021, the Netherlands are still unbeaten and have gone 19 consecutive games unbeaten. Midfield strategist Davy Klaassen closely ties this to the boss’s approach on the bench. “You only have to look at his CV and you’ll see that he’s a really great coach,” explains the ex-Bremer: “He told us before the tournament that we could become world champions. He brings a good mood to the team. He’s very clear about what he wants. If you do something well, he is very happy. If you don’t do something well, he’s less happy.”
The connection between the players, here Cody Gakpo and the coach, seems to be right
What: REUTERS
During the public appearances at the Football World Cup in the emirate, one often sees the cheerful and witty van Gaal. After the start of the global title fights, for example, he asked his wife Truus in front of the cameras if she would like to come to his hotel room for a quickie – and was delighted at her puzzled reaction. He hugs the journalist Papa Gueye from Senegal, who doesn’t ask a question at a press conference, but simply describes his deference to van Gaal, and explains: “I don’t often hear nice things like that. You’ll get ‘een big Knuffel’ from me.”
And what he thinks of right-back Denzel Dumfries he makes clear with a simple gesture: a kiss on the professional’s head. At moments like this, you don’t even notice that he announced eight months ago that he was suffering from aggressive prostate cancer.
Much criticism from home
Rather, van Gaal appears in Qatar as a psychologist, man-catcher and advisor. And although his team obviously benefits from that management style, there is a lot of criticism of the style of play at home. Too little spectacle, too boring, too uninspired, complain football legends like Marco van Basten or Rafael van der Vaart with unsightly regularity. Everyone can say what they think, especially in the Netherlands, counters van Gaal. In any case, he cannot be dissuaded. And when his team scored the first goal after an unbelievable sequence of 20 passes in the 3-1 win over the USA in the round of 16, he can confidently state: This is van Gaal-Voetbal in perfection. Let them just keep talking at home…
With their virtue of initially acting from a stable defense around the outstanding captain Virgil van Dijk, Elftal should also have good chances against Argentina. In the duel between the oldest and the youngest coach at the World Cup – Argentina’s Lionel Scaloni is 44 – it will depend on who is better able to use his strengths. The fact that the opponent has someone who has shaped the last decade of world football is more of an advantage for van Gaal than a disadvantage: “Of course Lionel Messi is their most dangerous and creative player,” he says. “On the other hand, he doesn’t get involved much in the game when the opponent has possession of the ball. Therein lies our opportunity.”
And anyway, for the Dutch there is still something that both the coach and the team care about. At the 2014 World Cup, the Netherlands were extremely unlucky, losing 4-2 on penalties to Argentina in the semi-finals. “We,” says van Gaal before meeting again eight and a half years later, “have a score to settle.”
