Van Gaal: 'Argentina is set to win the World Cup'

Van Gaal received an award at the Dutch football gala on the evening of September 4, and he was hesitant to talk about the last tournament in his career. The 72-year-old coach said: "I don't want to talk much about the 2022 World Cup, but the way the Argentine players scored against the Netherlands, or how they repeatedly crossed the limit without punishment, shows this tournament as it was. arranged".

When asked what he meant by such words, the former Netherlands coach replied: "I mean it. Messi must be the World Cup winner."

Argentina scored 14 goals in the 2022 World Cup, including four goals from penalties thanks to Messi. The 36-year-old superstar also missed a penalty in the group stage against Poland, when his kick was pushed away by goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. Meanwhile, the Netherlands scored 10 goals in the tournament, but none were from penalties.

Van Gaal twice led the Netherlands to the World Cup finals, but both lost to Argentina in the knockout round, including the semi-finals in 2014 and the quarter-finals in 2022. The last match of his coaching career was also the aforementioned defeat in Qatar. Before that match, Van Gaal said that Messi was Argentina's weakest link, and he had a plan to stop the leader of this team. Van Gaal also let his students practice 11m kicks a lot in practice sessions, but in the end they still lost 3-4 in the penalty shootout. Messi scored a penalty, after scoring an assist for Nahuel Molina to open the score.

Argentina's penalty goals are the most in the 2022 World Cup, twice the achievement of the team behind Portugal. In addition, no other team has scored more than one penalty goal. After the quarter-final, Messi also provoked Van Gaal and Dutch striker Wout Weghorst.

Van Gaal resigned after the match, and has not coached another team since. He helped the team go undefeated in 20 consecutive matches, not including penalty shootouts. On August 9, Van Gaal had surgery for a prostate tumor again, but he said he felt better.

When asked about the most adorable moments in his career, he said: "There were times when I had to make decisions for the team, ignoring the individual interests of the players. But after many years, those boys said 'Van Gaal was right'. That's the greatest compliment for a coach."