‘This was my very last match of my third term as head coach’: Louis van Gaal announces retirement
Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal has announced his retirement following a heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat to Argentina in the quarter-final.
“First and foremost I won’t be continuing. I only did it for this period of time. This was my very last match of my third term as head coach,” Van Gaal said in his post-match press conference.
“In that time I coached 20 matches 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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“I look back on it in a very positive way. With England we were the only team that was unbeaten. I don’t think we have been beaten today. It was only a penalty shoot-out. What I’m leaving behind is a great group.
“Personally and football-wise this is a team that is very close and with a lot of skill. I was coach for 20 matches and we never lost over that time. That’s for a reason. We’ve played against top countries as well, although those countries were eliminated earlier in the competition.”
Emiliano Martinez pulled up his shorts and performed a dance in front of Argentina’s fans.
Once again the Argentina goalkeeper was his country’s penalty-shootout star, this time at the World Cup.
Martinez made diving saves off penalties from Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis in a 4-3 shootout win over the Netherlands in the quarterfinals on Friday, after the match finished 2-2 after extra time.
Van Gaal was unbeaten in his 20 games since replacing Frank de Boer last summer.