Ronald Koeman will replace Louis Van Gaal as coach of the Netherlands after the World Cup in Qatar

Ronald Koeman, during his time as coach of FC Barcelona. SERGIO PEREZ (REUTERS)

Ronald Koeman will be the coach of the Netherlands again after the World Cup that takes place in November and December in Qatar.

The Dutch coach will replace Louis Van Gaal on January 1, 2023 and his contract, which has already been signed and confirmed by both parties, will run until the 2026 World Cup. Van Gaal, who precisely replaced Koeman in the summer of 2020, announced this week that he was suffering from prostate cancer and expressed his desire to continue until the end of the year and, therefore, the 2022 World Cup at the helm of

.

"I didn't leave the national team a little over a year and a half ago because I was unhappy," recalled Koeman, who took advantage of a clause in the agreement he then had with his country's federation to train Barcelona.

“I am looking forward to the time of the new stage,” he added.

“We will get the Netherlands back on track”, a team that qualified for the European Championship and was second in the League of Nations after a period of poor results, lost in Europe and in the world from its third place in the World Cup 2014.

More information

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The work that Koeman carried out in his previous term, from February 2018 to the summer of 2020 as coach "was very satisfactory due to the results", confirmed from the Dutch Football Federation.

The stage at Barcelona, ​​on the other hand, was much more complex and he was dismissed last October after 67 games, 40 wins, 11 draws and 16 losses and the conquest of the Copa del Rey.

Koeman has coached Vitesse, Ajax, Benfica, PSV, Valencia, Feyenoord, Southampton, Everton and Barcelona.

In recent weeks it had already been confirmed that Koeman was negotiating a possible contract, and according to the Dutch press, Van Gaal himself had indicated to the KNVB that he would be a good successor.

Van Gaal is 70 years old and revealed last Sunday that he has "an aggressive form of prostate cancer since the end of 2020".

He did it in a program on the RTL television network, entitled Humberto - the name of the presenter, Humberto Tan - and assured that he had not told the players so as not to influence them.

“They have seen that I have a certain blush on my cheeks and they think I am very healthy.

It is not like that, of course, ”he said, during the interview.

Hence, only his family and close friends knew about it.

The Dutch coach lost his wife to cancer and now wants to draw attention to the disease.

“I have a lot of discipline and will and I can carry out my work as a coach in these circumstances.

I like to work as a team: it is a gift at this stage of life”, she stated,

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