European groups in the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers have been completed. In the group in which the A National Team qualified for the play-offs, the Netherlands directly participated in the tournament to be held in Qatar.
The last week of the qualifying group was the scene of great excitement. A National Team managed to leave Montenegro with a 2-1 victory over the road they fell behind.
—
If Turkey won the match, there was a possibility of going directly to the World Cup. However, for this, Norway had to beat the Netherlands away in the last match. In this case, Turkey would go directly, Norway would qualify for the play-offs, and the Netherlands would finish third in the group.
However, the Netherlands did not allow surprise by beating Norway 2-0 at home with the goals they found in the last section. The Netherlands, which finished first in the group, reserved their place for Qatar, while Turkey took the play-off road as the second. Norway came in third.
Louis van Gaal: I would retire
Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal admitted that he decided to end his career in case of a bad result in a statement after the match against Norway.
Van Gaal used the words at the press conference, “If we hadn’t been able to stay behind Turkey and Norway and not go to the World Cup, I would definitely retire.”
Experienced coach, “Now I said that I want to run the club, not the national team. There were offers from other countries. However, if we lost, this would be my last task,” he said.
What did the Netherlands do under Van Gaal?
After Frank de Boer was sacked, the third Van Gaal era began in the Netherlands.
The 70-year-old coach had previously coached his country between 2000-01 and 2012-14.
Van Gaal, who played 6 matches for the Netherlands in the World Cup Qualifications, did not see the face of defeat. In this process, the Netherlands, which won 4 matches, drew with Norway and Montenegro. Having collected 14 points under Van Gaal’s management, the Oranges qualified for the World Cup.
The Netherlands finished third in the qualifying group in 2018 and failed to qualify for the World Cup in Russia.
—
