The Netherlands head coach Luis Van Gaal on Saturday night said his side still has to improve a lot after defeating the United States 3-1 in the round of 16, but it is enough to win the 2022 World Cup.
The Netherlands has never won the World Cup. They have reached the final three times but have failed, in 1974, 1978 and 2010. However, under Van Gaal, Netherlands is hoping to end the obsession with second place in the World Cup.
“The Netherlands can win the world. I am not saying we will win the world, but we can. Some strong teams have been eliminated, but the Netherlands are still here. We are three away from the championship another match,” Van Gaal said.
Van Gaal may have big smile after goals by Memphis Depay in the 10th minute and Daley Blind in the closing seconds of the first half. Hadj Wright scored for the U.S. in the 76th minute before Denzel Dumfries added a goal for the Netherlands in the 81st minute.
Van Gaal admitted that the Netherlands still has a lot to improve despite becoming the first team to win tickets to the quarterfinals.
“The Netherlands has not controlled the ball very well. When the opponent has the ball, we play rationally. But after winning the ball back,” Van Gaal said.
“We deal with mistakes, lose the ball too much. This must be improved immediately, if otherwise it wouldn’t be a world champion.” Van Gaal added.
The win over the US helps Van Gaal’s unbeaten streak with the Dutch team to 19 games since his return to the helm in 2021.
In the quarterfinal, Netherlands will play Argentina, who beat Australia 2-1 on Saturday night. The match will be played at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar.
