Louis van Gaal's term in the Netherlands team came to an end this evening (Friday) in the most painful way possible, with a 4:3 loss to the Argentina team in the quarterfinals of the World Cup, in a nerve-wracking penalty shootout.
The veteran coach ends his 120-minute unbeaten run at the World Cup - he had eight wins, four draws and two losses against Argentina in penalty kick duels (statistically, both count as draws).
"We trained on penalties for a year - and yet we screwed it up," Van Gaal said at the end.
"I asked the players to kick penalties in their teams, and that's indeed what happened, but when you miss your first two kicks, you can't win."
Regarding the penalty that Argentina received in legal time, which Messi scored, the coach said: "To me, it was questionable. I would like to see it again on TV, but we didn't lose because of the referee."
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The Oranges came back in a heroic way from a 2:0 deficit with a late double by Vaught and Horst (83, 101), but missed two penalties and missed a huge chance to qualify for the semi-finals.
"It's very difficult," admitted Natan Aka.
"We fought and gave everything. The substitutions changed the game, and in the end it's just luck, but it's a very painful way to lose. You have to hold your head up."
Virgil van Dijk, who missed from the penalty spot, added: "We practiced a lot on penalties, everything went in - until tonight. It's very frustrating and very painful. We showed great fighting spirit. We really believed we would win, there is a special group of players here. It hurts."
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The Netherlands team
World Cup 2022
Louis Van Halen