A journalist from Curaçao had the last question. He asked Bonds coach Louis van Gaal how important Denzel Dumfries, whose father came from the neighboring Caribbean island of Aruba, was for the Dutch national team. “Denzel knows how important he is to us,” said van Gaal. “So two days ago I gave him a big kiss, I’ll kiss him again,” said van Gaal. And then he smacked his full-back.
Louis van Gaal has already hugged at this World Cup, he asked his wife Truus on the training ground to come to the hotel room to do a “Wippie” and now he is kissing his players. In the late evening, a video also went through the internet in which he danced lightly into the team hotel. Of course, the spring fever of the celebration beast in the Qatari winter comes from the fact that things are going really well. His side are through to the quarter-finals thanks to a shockingly comfortable 3-1 win over USA.
After ten minutes, Elftal took the lead through Memphis Depay, Daley Blind raised before the break, and after a goal from substitute Haji Wright, Dumfries, who was later kissed, made everything clear. But the style of the Dutch was less interesting than the goals. The USA were ahead in all statistics: shots on goal, possession, passes. After the game, coach Greg Berhalter said the result was “tough” because they were “superior in every aspect of the game”. In each? If he weren’t mistaken.
Because after the early opening goal, van Gaal’s deep five-man chain, conducted by captain Virgil van Dijk, hardly gave the young US team a chance to score anymore. The Americans might have controlled the ball, but there was no doubt at Khalifa Stadium who was in control of the game. This style propelled van Gaal to the 2014 World Cup semi-finals, a penalty shoot-out away from the final against Germany. And just like back then, he is now provoking discussions in his home country.
You have to know that the Dutch are so sacred to their offensive 4-3-3 tactic that they sometimes even is requested via aircraft banner. The beautiful game is part of identity in the land of Johan Cruyff. When Oranje tried to kick their way to the title in the 2010 World Cup final against Spain with overly tough actions, it caused serious resentment at home. Now van Gaal has to justify himself again and defend the way he played before the round of 16 against accusations of boredom – and of course he did it in his own way. “That’s your opinion, but I don’t think your opinion is the right opinion” , he said to a journalist. He asked another, “If you find it so boring, why don’t you go home?” Answer: “I have to stay until the final.” Van Gaal: “Then see you there!”
Stand up and see what’s going on
The oldest coach at the World Cup (71 years old) simply takes one of the oldest wisdoms in sport to heart: Offensive wins games, defensive championships. His approach is almost the exact opposite of the German tactics: Instead of full offensive and risk at the back, the general stands safe and sees what’s going on. In terms of political communication, too, the Netherlands does things differently from the DFB. Before the tournament, van Gaal was very critical of Qatar, the host of the World Cup, and his team organized training sessions with guest workers in the first few days in Doha. But when the games started, the Bonds coach said to every political question: No answer, now it’s about football.
“Our game against the ball gives us confidence, we need to improve our game with the ball,” was van Gaal’s analysis after the round of 16. That is of course correct in terms of football, what else; however, the next opponent is Argentina, and his team won’t necessarily have to play against them either. It didn’t do it in the 2014 World Cup semi-final either, but because the South Americans didn’t fall into van Gaal’s trap like the USA did this time, it turned out to be one of the most boring games of the World Cup. Today, as then, Argentina also has the Messi factor, who can break even the best organized five-man chain with a single action. For van Gaal’s orange wall, the Argentina game will be the tournament’s first major test.