December 10, (THEWILL) – After Friday’s loss to Argentina on penalties in the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals, Louis van Gaal, who had unexpectedly returned to the dugout 16 months ago, announced his resignation as Netherlands manager.
The decision of Ronald Koeman to resign his post at the Dutch national team to take over at Barcelona meant that the Dutch legend was called upon to take charge of the team for a third time in August of last year. Koeman is expected to return.
The thrilling game on Friday, witnessed a spectacular double from substitute Wout Weghorst which helped the Dutch battle back from a 2-0 deficit to force extra time, and they nearly pulled off the most dramatic of victories.
But Emiliano Martinez made saves from Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis as the South Americans won the shootout to advance to the semi-finals against Croatia, who surprised Brazil earlier on Friday, via shootouts as well.
Addressing a post-match conference, Van Gaal said: “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.”
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
