Key player: Holland’s Frenkie de Jong (left) scored once for Holland in the Group A match against hosts Qatar. — AP
LOUIS van Gaal has his sights set on an emotional World Cup run as the outspoken Holland coach prepares for today’s last 16 clash with the United States.
If Van Gaal’s side make it to the latter stages of the World Cup in Qatar it would provide one of the most poignant stories of the tournament.
The 71-year-old came out of retirement to coach Holland last year despite his harrowing battle with aggressive prostate cancer.
Van Gaal had been out of the game since being sacked by Manchester United in 2016, but the combative coach remains a force of nature, as he proved by leading Holland to the World Cup knockout stage after undergoing successful treatment for his illness.
The Dutch topped Group A with victories over Senegal and Qatar and a draw against Ecuador.
Now they face the US at the Khalifa International Stadium hoping to move a step closer to winning the World Cup for the first time.
The current Oranje crop might not be ranked alongside the Johan Cruyff and Ruud Gullit eras that established Holland as purveyors of football in its purest form.
But Van Gaal, in his third spell as Holland coach, rates the 2022 squad as the most gifted of his reigns.
Liverpool centreback Virgil van Dijk, Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong and emerging PSV Eindhoven forward Cody Gakpo give Holland a formidable spine.
Van Gaal claims Holland could win the World Cup because his squad have a “higher average quality” than the group he led to the semi-finals in Brazil in 2014.
That forthright assessment has been dismissed as hyperbole by admirers of World Cup favourites like Brazil, France and England.
Yet it was in keeping with Van Gaal’s scorched earth approach to management.
Never shy about expressing his opinions to club chairmen, players or the media, Van Gaal has been in typically acerbic mood at the World Cup.
Criticised after the 2-0 win against Qatar for failing to play the expansive style that the Dutch regard as their birthright, Van Gaal didn’t hold back.
“I’m not going to expand on it because I think you have a different opinion of football,” he told a reporter.
“Why don’t you write you think it is terribly boring and you are going home tomorrow because you couldn’t care less?”
When another reporter put it to Van Gaal that fans were “grinding their teeth” on social media about the displays, Van Gaal added: “That’s disappointing but I don’t agree with you.
“That’s your opinion but I don’t think your opinion is the correct opinion. I think everyone would be rather proud we are progressing to the next round.
“I think things are not as bad as you say they are.” — AFP
