Van Gaal is pleased with how his side handled their last group match. Cody Gakpo and Frenkie de Jong helped him win, but the Europeans could have beaten the Qataris by a much wider margin.
The Dutch thus dominated Group A with seven points and will be eagerly awaiting the gist of the round of 16. From 20 the duels of Group B will be played between England and Wales and Iran against the USA. “I will be following him with particular interest. I like that we will all be watching,” revealed the coach, who was also with the Dutch silver medalist at the 2010 World Cup.
Montage of the World Cup match Netherlands – Qatarvideo: Czech television
Van Gaal managed ten consecutive World Cup matches without losing (W7, D3), the most in World Cup history. The youngster Cody Gakpo helped him a lot, scoring in all three matches of the basic group.
“Scoring in all duels is fantastic, but we play as a team. We all help each other. We’ve progressed to the round of 16, that’s what it’s about. Now we have to continue. Against Qatar we were stronger on the ball than in previous matches , we controlled the duel more. But another victory is important,” the 23-year-old striker assessed.
Van Gaal also spoke about the condition of his biggest attacking star Memphis Depay of Barcelona, who returned to football at the World Cup after a long injury. He started for the first time against Qatar and was substituted in the second half.
Cody Gakpo opens the scoring against Qatar.video: Czech television
“Thanks to him we are different, he is involved in our goals again. If we want to become world champions, he must play. 65 minutes have passed today, five minutes more than I said earlier. We must not forget that he hasn’t played for 2 months “, underlined the coach.
