Louis Van Gaal praised the Netherlands for “a marvellous tournament. Nobody imagined we’d come this far.”
The Dutch squeezed past Costa Rica on penalties, but another 0-0 draw in the semi-final with Argentina proved fatal.
“Holland played a marvellous tournament,” insisted the Coach after a 4-2 defeat on spot-kicks.
Louis Van Gaal praised the Netherlands for “a marvellous tournament. Nobody imagined we’d come this far.”
The Dutch squeezed past Costa Rica on penalties, but another 0-0 draw in the semi-final with Argentina proved fatal.
“Holland played a marvellous tournament,” insisted the Coach after a 4-2 defeat on spot-kicks.
“Nobody could’ve imagined we’d come this far. Argentina are a world class side with world class players and I’d like to point out we didn’t lose against them.”
Van Gaal replaced goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen with Tim Krul in the last minute of extra time against Costa Rica, but ran out of substitutions in Sao Paulo.
Cillessen has never saved a spot-kick in his professional career and failed to get any tonight either.
“If I could’ve substituted him with Krul, then I would’ve done. I reached penalties with no more substitutions left.
“Of course penalties are a matter of luck too. And I taught Romero how to save penalties!”
Van Gaal already worked with Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero at AZ Alkmaar.
The Dutch World Cup isn’t over yet, as they face hosts Brazil on Saturday for third place.
"I think this match should never be played," shrugged Van Gaal.