Win in pre-quaters gives us incredible confidence: Netherlands coach van Gaal
Dec 04, 2022
Al Rayyan [Qatar], December 4 : Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal reviewed his team's performance after registering a win over the USA and stated that the victory will boost the team's confidence moving forward.
The head coach was pleased with his team's performance but also offered his constructive criticism, saying that the team could have played even better in the second half.
"In the second half they did a better job even though we made fewer goals. Overall we're very pleased and it gives us incredible confidence," said van Gaal.
Louis van Gaal offered his insights into the game and said that he shared his analysis of the first half very critically with his players despite being ahead with two goals.
"I was very critical in half time of my analysis that I share with my players. Despite that, we were in the lead 2-0. I think they were fantastic goals. One of these was really a team goal. But in the first half we were dispossessed so often and it was not necessary. And that's not acceptable at a World Cup," said the Netherland coach.
Memphis Depay, Daley Blind and Denzel Dumfries scored a goal each to guide Netherlands to a 3-1 victory over USA in the round of 16 match here at Khalifa International Stadium. With this win, the Dutch team made it to the quarter-finals and USA have been knocked out of the competition.
The Netherlands will face Argentina in the quarterfinal on December 10 for a place in the semi-final of the FIFA World Cup.
Argentina stormed into the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup after defeating Australia 2-1 in a thrilling Round of 16 clash at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on Sunday.
Argentina changed their strategy immediately after the break, switching to a three-man defence after taking a one-goal lead in the first half. They scored their second goal as a result of the tactical switch as they caused Matt Ryan to make a terrible error. It was Julian Alvarez who profited from it.
The Argentine became the third player to score a goal in consecutive World Cup matches for Argentina in the 21st century. Lionel Messi proved his mettle once again as he scored for Argentina in the first half.
