After its disappointing loss against Argentina on Tuesday, the Netherlands coach Louis Van Gaal is furious that FIFA has not scrapped the third-place consolation match his team is now forced to place against host nation Brazil, Yahoo Sports reported. Van Gaal is insisting that the world soccer body should be consigned to history.
On Saturday, the Oranje is set to place against Brazil in Brasilia after losing to Argentina in an epic penalty shootout at 4-2 after a scoreless 120-minute play on the pitch at Arena de Sao Paolo. Van Gaal, who is set to take over over English Premier League team Manchester United at the end of the tournament, has been clamoring for FIFA to abandon the game with no success, Yahoo Sports said.
Less than an hour after his team's loss, he told reporters present, "I think that this match should never be played. We will just have to play the game but it is unfair. We will have one day less to recover and that's not fair play. But the worst thing is, I believe, there is a chance that you lose twice in a row in a tournament in which you've played so marvelously well. You go home as a 'loser' because possibly you've lost the last two matches."
Van Gaal could not be blamed for his sentiments, the sports blog said. The third-place match is much derided and is rarely memorable in the World Cup. In the game, both teams often give chance to players who had little playing time during their tournament campaign.
On the other hand, Brazil, might not have the same sentiments as Van Gaal's. Since their tragic 7-1 loss against Germany in the semifinals, the third-place match would be the host country team's chance to redeem itself in the eyes of its fans.
Nonetheless, van Gaal has already publicly declared that he will be making widespread changes to his lineup for the match on Saturday.
He reasoned, "This game has nothing to do with sports in my opinion," he added. "But I have said this 10 years or 15 years ago and nothing changed. No tournament, no football tournament, especially in the last stage, should you have players playing for third or fourth. There is only one prize and one award that counts for anything and that is becoming champion."
