Louis van Gaal steps down as Netherlands manager
By Sean Walsh
Louis van Gaal has confirmed that he will be stepping down as the manager of the Netherlands national team following their dramatic World Cup quarter-final loss to Argentina.
The 71-year-old had already insisted prior to the finals that this tournament would be his last in charge of the Oranje, who he managed in three different spells.
And he backed up this sentiment following Friday's thriller at the Lusail Iconic Stadium, ending his third stint technically unbeaten.
“First and foremost I won’t be continuing,” Van Gaal said. “I only did it for this period of time. This was my very last match of my third term as head coach.
“In that time I coached 20 matches [winning 14, drawing six] and we didn’t lose a single one. I don’t know how many matches we won, but you can Google ‘Louis van Gaal, Dutch team’ and see the goal difference for yourself.”
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What could have been the last match of Van Gaal's storied career will go down as one of the most entertaining in World Cup history.
Argentina went 2-0 up in large part thanks to the efforts of Lionel Messi, who assisted Nahuel Molina's opener with a superb no-look pass before scoring from the spot.
But Van Gaal threw the kitchen sink at La Albiceleste. He brought on target men Luuk de Jong and Wout Weghorst to try and find a route back into the tie.
Weghorst scored a thumping header after 83 minutes, and at the very end of ten minutes of stoppage time, he pounced again following a clever free-kick routine with Teun Koopmeiners.
The Oranje were defeated on penalties just as they were in the semi-finals in 2014, with Emiliano Martinez making two huge saves as a feisty affair - which yielded 17 yellow cards, including three after the final whistle and during the shootout - came to a close.