The name Louis van Gaal is an indigenous name in world football. He is supposed to save the Dutch national team for the third time and speak with his full body about the World Championship. And it almost goes down. There is a great need to beat Turkey, otherwise Orangi could only watch the World Cup.

Not only do the Bundesliga clubs know that Erling Haaland is a spoiler. The Norwegian is such a talented spoiler that everyone would rather have him on their team than play against him. Last week, coach Louis van Gaal also found out first-hand why this is. The Dutch coach has announced once again – his third term – that he wants to become a world champion with his team. Then Haaland came – and the Bondscoach coach personally dismissed his team of “world class”.

One stroke from the Norwegian was enough to put the Dutch’s newfound confidence into the World Cup qualifiers a bad deal. team ‘only’ Secondly Only Group G Top 1 qualify directly for the controversial tournament in Qatar in the run-up to Christmas next year. The second at least made it to the knockout stage – the Netherlands are currently only in that place due to a better goal difference, and the Norwegians in Haaland are third. The striker will only worry that a shot on goal hit the post in the second half. Otherwise, Norway would have passed. The Netherlands is in dire straits.

It is good for Van Gaal & Co. that this Haaland only exists once. That Drasko Bozovic, Stefan Mugosa and the rest of Montenegro’s attack are in some ways inferior to the 21-year-old. Because their supporters play less well, the Netherlands managed to beat the world number 67th 4-0 on Saturday. Encourage. A game that makes it easier, but nothing more. Two hits from Memphis Depay, one from Georginio Wijnaldum, and one from Cody Gakpo. Seeming a sovereign, he wasn’t kind. “The first 20 minutes were bad,” said Van Gaal.

“You are not an idiot”

Instead, a scene from Sunday’s training remains in a fond memory, captured in a video: U21 player Quinten Timber was allowed to take part, and Van Gaal rewarded “best” of the juniors, who moved from Ajax Amsterdam to FC Utrecht this summer. What was so special about it? Van Gaal told Timber that he had been vaccinated himself and asked about his condition. When Timber said yes, the coach’s response was relieved, “Thank God. You’re not stupid.” Small scene showing how powerful “General” Van Gaal is. That he doesn’t want any opponents on his team, and that his opinion matters.

He can change that from time to time, but then his new view is the law. Van Gaal once announced to his wife Truss that he wanted to retire at the age of 55. That’s 65, now he’s 70 and working as a bond coach for three weeks. He took charge from Frank de Boer, who was 19 years his junior and who once played under him. which was already heavily criticized before the disappointing EM, after which he quit. Only in September 2020 did he take charge from Ronald Koeman, who was moving to Barcelona, ​​but then, to the horror of the Dutch, he did not play in the sacred 4-3-3 system. Which even resulted in ridiculous scenes during training, when a plane with the banner “Frank as usual 4-3-3” flew over the field. His 5-3-2 style yielded three wins in the EM group stage, but then it was over. Van Gaal must restore strength and self-confidence. Despite his age, he should pave the way for the sporting future of the Netherlands. Van Gaal had said when he started, “Who else is supposed to do that?” Here he is again, the boss with a huge ego.

The players in the World Cup now need the same amount of self-confidence as their coach. Second place is not enough, Turkey currently holds first place – but only by one point. Which team will there be a duel in the evening (8.45 pm on ntv.de live tape) Come. Or rather: revenge. The first leg ended on March 25 – still under de Boer – 2:4, shame on Orange. Burak Yilmaz had caused the Netherlands’ nightmare, scored three times and led the Dutch defense to bad fouls.

Revenge from Turkey?

Above all, Matthijs de Ligt will remember with horror that he was heavily involved in 0:1. Now everything should get better. And quickly. Otherwise, how is Orangi supposed to become world champion if the team isn’t around? Nor does one dare to contradict General Van Gaal. Well, he saw it, “world class” isn’t. But after the first three qualifying matches, which were held under Van Boer, the draw against the Netherlands and the victory over Montenegro, anything is still possible. In any case.

Van Gaal is currently the person that fans celebrate. This was the last time she was against Montenegro, and it could be the same with the next home win. Because Turkey has to play in the return leg in Amsterdam. Bad news for the Netherlands: Yilmaz missed Turkey’s 3-0 win over Gibraltar, but is now allowed to play again. This time, de Ligt and Co. should be warned. Good for Orange: The opponent’s worst strikers went more than themselves, three bankruptcies, zero points, in the preliminary round. Like Germany, the Netherlands followed suit in the Round of 16.

“We have to play more as a team,” Van Gaal complained after the draw with Norway. This also applies to Turkey, which should not come close to the Netherlands based on the quality of the individual players. Only Leverkusen-based Hakan Calhanoglu, who recently moved from AC to Inter Milan, is international. Oranje has more to offer here. But the team also has to prove it on the field. Otherwise, it quickly gets too tight as the Live World Championships kicks off. The match ticket is also not certain – Haaland & Co are still playing in the second leg.