National team coach Louis van Gaal received the laughs on Thursday during the latest press conference for the quarter-final match against Argentina at the World Cup in Qatar. After a question about the Argentinian Ángel Di María, he wanted to kiss Memphis Depay on the mouth, but he refused.
An Argentine journalist confronted Van Gaal the day before the Argentina match with statements from Di María, who had previously called the Dutchman his worst coach ever. The two worked together at Manchester United from 2014 to 2015. After a year, Di María left for Paris Saint-Germain.
“Ángel Di María is a very good footballer, who had many private problems in Manchester at the time,” said Van Gaal in Doha. “He had been violated and it affected the shape of him.”
“That he calls me the worst coach… He’s one of the few who said that. Usually it’s the other way around. I think it’s very bad, I don’t like that Ángel called him once. It’s a shame, but it’s not differently, a manager sometimes has to make decisions that don’t always go well.”
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Van Gaal then tapped Memphis on the shoulder. The manager and international striker have also worked together at United before, but it has not been a happy marriage. “Here’s another one next to me, Memphis Depay. He was also with Manchester. And now we’re kissing on his mouth.”
Memphis laughed and stopped Van Gaal from kissing him, as the national coach had already done with Denzel Dumfries after winning the eighth final against the United States (3-1). “He doesn’t want a kiss on the mouth, too bad. But he’s cute,” concluded Van Gaal.
“Don’t tell us how we fight against Messi”
In the run-up to the quarter-finals, it’s often about how Orange star Lionel Messi should play. National team manager Lionel Scaloni’s Argentina is all about the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Van Gaal didn’t want to say anything about his way of fighting at the press conference. “We won’t tell you, because then we’ll tell you the tactics. Of course it’s stupid. It’s not that difficult to notice that you have to close the passing lines to Messi. It’s not that controversial.”
According to Van Gaal, the World Cup for the Oranges will now really begin. The Netherlands have already played in the group stage against Senegal (2-0 win), Ecuador (1-1) and host country Qatar (2-0 win) and in the round of 16 against the USA (3 -1).
“In my opinion, Argentina is a top country with the best players in the selection,” said the national team coach. “I don’t want to belittle the other nations we beat. But Argentina and Brazil maybe in the next round they are different nations from the ones we beat.”
