Holland’s Louis van Gaal criticises Fifa for ‘playing tricks’ over schedule
• Coach: Brazil playing after the Dutch face Chile is ‘not fair’
• Van Gaal rails against media spying and choice of referees
The Holland coach, Louis van Gaal, centre, addresses his squad as they prepare for their Group B decider with Chile.
Louis van Gaal has taken aim at Fifa for “playing tricks” before Holland’s game with Chile to decide which of them will top their group and probably avoid Brazil in the next round.
He criticised Fifa over the scheduling of Brazil’s final match against Cameroon, suggesting it would benefit the host country, and also questioned the standard of refereeing in Holland’s two matches to date. “Fifa, for every match they have this advertisement around fair play. Fifa plays these tricks. It’s not a good thing. It’s not fair play,” he said.
Brazil’s first two matches had been scheduled before Holland’s but the hosts’ final game against Cameroon is played after the Dutch face Chile. Both Group B teams have maximum points but Holland need only a draw thanks to their superior goal difference as a result of the 5-1 evisceration of Spain in their opening game.
“We’re going to focus on a victory tomorrow against Chile and I don’t think that will be affected by the fact Brazil will play after us,” said Van Gaal. “I am just assuming Brazil will do their sporting duty. Why on earth are they [Fifa] doing that? That is the question.”
Van Gaal said his players had mustered an “unbelievable” effort in their two games to date – the demolition of Spain followed by a curate’s egg of a performance against Australia in which they came from behind to escape with a 3-2 victory. A characteristically bullish Van Gaal also criticised the Dutch media for spying on closed training sessions and took aim at Fifa’s choice of referees.
He said neither of the penalties Holland had conceded in their first two matches should have been given and questioned the yellow card against Australia that left their captain Robin van Persie suspended for the group decider. Van Persie will be missing, having picked up two bookings – as well as three goals – in his opening two games. The PSV Eindhoven striker Memphis Depay is expected to deputise.
Nor may Chile be at full strength. Their coach, Jorge Sampaoli, is considering leaving the Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal and Charles Aránguiz, who scored one of Chile’s goals and made the other in their thrilling 2-0 victory over Spain, on the bench. Vidal has a sore achilles and Aránguiz has sprained his right knee. Both are also carrying yellow cards.
Predicting the outcome of Group B was never going to be easy but few suspected that Holland and Chile would go into the final game with maximum points and rock-bottom Spain would be facing off with Australia for the wooden spoon.
Monday’s game at the Arena Corinthians in many ways epitomises everything that has been thrilling about this World Cup: two swift, fearless attacking sides – one from South America and one from Europe – who have lit up the group stages.
“We are one of the first teams to qualify. Nobody ever expected that in Holland,” Van Gaal said. “We couldn’t have done any better. But we want more.” The fact that both teams have already qualified is likely to give the match the air of a celebration as the raucous Chileans and garish Dutch pour into the crowded São Paulo streets to add colour to the hardest to please of Brazil’s World Cup host cities.
But there is much at stake. Whoever top the group are likely to avoid the hosts Brazil in the second round and instead face Croatia or Mexico, with a theoretically easier quarter-final to follow.
“If you look ahead a bit, in theory you are better off than if you come second,” said Van Persie, who would like to face Brazil but just “a bit later” in the tournament.
The team who finish second are likely to face Brazil, though given the form of the hosts that fate does not hold the fear it may have done, and then the prospect of Colombia, Uruguay or Italy in the quarter-finals.
Holland have made such a scintillating start to this World Cup that it is easy to forget there were many question marks hanging over them when they arrived in Brazil. But Arjen Robben, playing with an intelligence to add to his natural skill and pace in the best form of his career, and Van Persie have helped their younger team-mates quickly find their feet. They almost stumbled against Australia and it will be intriguing to see if Van Gaal starts with the 5-3-2 he began with against Spain or the 4-3-3 he reverted to at half-time against the Socceroos to rescue the game.
For Chile, roared on by their passionate fans, there is a feeling of momentum building. They will try to stop the Dutch switching the ball from defence to attack as swiftly as they were able to do to such devastating effect against Spain. “Robben is very fast and the team is playing well,” said the Chile defender Francisco Silva. “To counter their speed we’ll have to have a balanced game and close spaces.”
There is little chance of the Dutch, who will be sporting their orange kit for the first time in the tournament, taking the Chile challenge lightly. Van Gaal paid tribute to their “marvellous” coach, their “fantastic” attack and “fanatic” style – the way they press and close the space.
Given the gung-ho attacking, liquid breaks and occasionally suspect defending of both sides, one might expect a high-scoring game. At this most unpredictable of World Cups then it is probably safest to bet on a nil-nil draw.
Louis van Gaal has taken aim at Fifa for “playing tricks” before Holland’s game with Chile to decide which of them will top their group and probably avoid Brazil in the next round.
He criticised Fifa over the scheduling of Brazil’s final match against Cameroon, suggesting it would benefit the host country, and also questioned the standard of refereeing in Holland’s two matches to date. “Fifa, for every match they have this advertisement around fair play. Fifa plays these tricks. It’s not a good thing. It’s not fair play,” he said.
Brazil’s first two matches had been scheduled before Holland’s but the hosts’ final game against Cameroon is played after the Dutch face Chile. Both Group B teams have maximum points but Holland need only a draw thanks to their superior goal difference as a result of the 5-1 evisceration of Spain in their opening game.
“We’re going to focus on a victory tomorrow against Chile and I don’t think that will be affected by the fact Brazil will play after us,” said Van Gaal. “I am just assuming Brazil will do their sporting duty. Why on earth are they [Fifa] doing that? That is the question.”
Van Gaal said his players had mustered an “unbelievable” effort in their two games to date – the demolition of Spain followed by a curate’s egg of a performance against Australia in which they came from behind to escape with a 3-2 victory. A characteristically bullish Van Gaal also criticised the Dutch media for spying on closed training sessions and took aim at Fifa’s choice of referees.
He said neither of the penalties Holland had conceded in their first two matches should have been given and questioned the yellow card against Australia that left their captain Robin van Persie suspended for the group decider. Van Persie will be missing, having picked up two bookings – as well as three goals – in his opening two games. The PSV Eindhoven striker Memphis Depay is expected to deputise.
Nor may Chile be at full strength. Their coach, Jorge Sampaoli, is considering leaving the Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal and Charles Aránguiz, who scored one of Chile’s goals and made the other in their thrilling 2-0 victory over Spain, on the bench. Vidal has a sore achilles and Aránguiz has sprained his right knee. Both are also carrying yellow cards.
Predicting the outcome of Group B was never going to be easy but few suspected that Holland and Chile would go into the final game with maximum points and rock-bottom Spain would be facing off with Australia for the wooden spoon.
Monday’s game at the Arena Corinthians in many ways epitomises everything that has been thrilling about this World Cup: two swift, fearless attacking sides – one from South America and one from Europe – who have lit up the group stages.
“We are one of the first teams to qualify. Nobody ever expected that in Holland,” Van Gaal said. “We couldn’t have done any better. But we want more.” The fact that both teams have already qualified is likely to give the match the air of a celebration as the raucous Chileans and garish Dutch pour into the crowded São Paulo streets to add colour to the hardest to please of Brazil’s World Cup host cities.
But there is much at stake. Whoever top the group are likely to avoid the hosts Brazil in the second round and instead face Croatia or Mexico, with a theoretically easier quarter-final to follow.
“If you look ahead a bit, in theory you are better off than if you come second,” said Van Persie, who would like to face Brazil but just “a bit later” in the tournament.
The team who finish second are likely to face Brazil, though given the form of the hosts that fate does not hold the fear it may have done, and then the prospect of Colombia, Uruguay or Italy in the quarter-finals.
Holland have made such a scintillating start to this World Cup that it is easy to forget there were many question marks hanging over them when they arrived in Brazil. But Arjen Robben, playing with an intelligence to add to his natural skill and pace in the best form of his career, and Van Persie have helped their younger team-mates quickly find their feet. They almost stumbled against Australia and it will be intriguing to see if Van Gaal starts with the 5-3-2 he began with against Spain or the 4-3-3 he reverted to at half-time against the Socceroos to rescue the game.
For Chile, roared on by their passionate fans, there is a feeling of momentum building. They will try to stop the Dutch switching the ball from defence to attack as swiftly as they were able to do to such devastating effect against Spain. “Robben is very fast and the team is playing well,” said the Chile defender Francisco Silva. “To counter their speed we’ll have to have a balanced game and close spaces.”
There is little chance of the Dutch, who will be sporting their orange kit for the first time in the tournament, taking the Chile challenge lightly. Van Gaal paid tribute to their “marvellous” coach, their “fantastic” attack and “fanatic” style – the way they press and close the space.
Given the gung-ho attacking, liquid breaks and occasionally suspect defending of both sides, one might expect a high-scoring game. At this most unpredictable of World Cups then it is probably safest to bet on a nil-nil draw.
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