(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal said that he had left a good
legacy for Dutch football at the end of his third time in charge of
the national team, trend reports citing xinhua .
Van Gaal's third reign ended after a penalty shootout after his
side came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with two late goals from
Wout Weghorst before Argentina came through the shootout after
Emiliano Martinez made two saves.
'I will not be continuing as a coach as I was only doing this
for a limited period of time, so this is my last game,' he said.
'What I'm leaving behind is an excellent group, personally and in
terms of football, this is a very close team with a great spirit
and a lot of skill. I was in charge for 20 games and we didn't lose
in that time - that's for a reason.'
'I'm really proud and I had a wonderful time. It is very painful
to see how we have gone out after doing everything possible to stop
it from happening,' added Van Gaal. 'It was a fantastic period of
time, with the same group of players and I look back in a very
positive way.'
Looking back on the match, he admitted the Dutch had been below
their best for a part of the game.
'In the first half, it was the same problem, we couldn't find a
free player when we had the ball. I tried to change that at
halftime, with a 4-3-3 and then a 4-4-1-1 and then a 4-4-2.'
'We fought hard in the second half to try and get back from two
goals down against Argentina, who pressed hard. We equalized, but
we lost the shootout,' commented Van Gaal.
'I have nothing to criticize the players. It's fantastic to come
back from two goals down, but unfortunate to lose on penalties,' he
said.
'We ran much more than Argentina in the second half, but some
players were really tired,' said the coach, who explained his side
had 'worked on penalties ever since we got here and we were
optimistic that we could win.'
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