Veteran Dutch coach Louis van Gaal waited to make a statement about the World Cup exit against Argentina before Christmas. When he does it for the first time, he hits hard.
On Monday evening, Van Gaal was present at the award ceremony in Utrecht and, in an interview with Dutch broadcaster NOS, hinted more than necessary that the organizers had arranged for Argentina’s captain Lionel Messi to win the long-awaited World Cup title.
And so it went after the thrilling World Cup Final against France, which Argentina won on penalties. Incidentally, they also did it against Van Gaal and the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.
– I don’t really want to say much about it. “When you see how Argentina score, how we achieve our goals, how some Argentine players crossed the goal line without being penalized, I think it’s all just a game of plan,” says the 72-year-old.
The reporter asked Van Gaal what he meant by this statement.
– I mean what I say. It was planned that Messi would become a world champion. Yes I think.
The aforementioned match against the Netherlands was of the most dramatic kind. Argentina received eight yellow cards, but managed to keep all eleven players on the field. The Netherlands also received eight yellow cards, two of them for Denzel Dumfries, who was sent off on the eve of the second extra period.
Van Gaal quit as coach after the World Cup, but it seems the way the Netherlands have gone out still bothers him. But right now, the most important thing for him was to take care of his health. The former coach recently underwent surgery again after being diagnosed with prostate cancer at the end of 2020.
– It remains the same. I had another operation on August 9, and there were complications. I won’t bother you about what happened. But now it looks nice. I have to rest until September 19, and then we’ll see if I’m on the right track after the operation, he told NOS.
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