In an interview with Fox Sports, the experienced coach discussed the contentious quarter-final match filled with disputes and altercations, which ended in a penalty shootout victory for Lionel Scaloni’s side after a 2-2 draw in 120 minutes of regulation play.

Van Gaal accused the match referee, Spain’s Mateu Lahoz, of bias, asserting that Argentina was awarded an undeserved penalty and that Leandro Paredes should have been sent off for striking the Dutch bench with the ball.

“The referee robbed us against Argentina. The facts are there. I can show you the videos. Do you think it’s normal for an Argentine player to strike the ball at our bench without receiving a red card? And then there was the penalty we conceded,” Van Gaal explained.

It should be noted that prior to this match, the Dutch coach opened the controversy, as he criticized Lionel Messi’s level in the tournament, and explained that unlike what happened in 2014, this time they would be able to contain him. After scoring his team’s second goal, the Argentine captain dedicated the celebration to him.

Louis Van Gaal’s healt

Following the World Cup in Qatar, Van Gaal stepped away from coaching to battle prostate cancer. In the same interview with Fox Sports, he discussed his health situation with humor, stating that he feels well.

“My health? I’m doing fine. After three years of radiotherapy, kidney infections, and prostate surgery, I can finally manage it. I can urinate naturally again, which is important. But I can’t make love anymore, that’s a problem,” Van Gaal joked.

He also touched on his future in coaching, revealing that Bayern Munich approached him for the head coach position for the upcoming season, but he turned down the offer: “Bayern Munich asked me to be their coach, I was surprised,” he said.

“I don’t really want to say much about it. If you see how Argentina gets the goals and how we get the goals and how some of Argentina’s players crossed the line and weren’t punished, then I think it’s all preconceived game,” van Gaal told Dutch outlet NOS in September. “I mean everything I say by that. That Messi had to become world champion? I think so, yes.”

Wout Weghorst was asked about the strong accusation made by his former coach, but far from siding with van Gaal, the striker stated Argentina deserved to become the world champion.

“No, honestly, I don’t agree with Van Gaal. I heard what he said but I don’t see it that way,” Weghorst said, via ESPN. “We equalized in the tenth minute of stoppage time with a free kick on the edge of the penalty area. If it was the other way around, why would the referee give that free-kick? In the end, Argentina deserved to win the World Cup.”

Wout Weghorst’s heated match against Argentina

Weghorst was the subject of a heated exchange with Messi in the quarterfinal clash between Netherlands and Argentina, with the Inter Miami star calling him “idiot” as the Dutchman stared at him during a post-game interview.

That kind of overshadowed the fact that Weghorst put his nation back in the game when it looked like it was over. The striker came off the bench after 78′, and only five minutes later, he pulled one back for the Oranje. In the dying seconds of the match, the Hoffenheim player scored the equalizer to force the extra time.

Weghorst got into Messi and other Argentine players’ nerves, as the world champs accused him of taunting them during the match. But the 31-year-old has no hard feelings, so he hasn’t echoed van Gaal’s sentiments.

Other Dutch players also disagreed with van Gaal

Van Gaal’s comments gave a lot to talk about in the soccer community, and Weghorst wasn’t the only one who had something to say about it. Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk, for instance, also took distance from his former coach.

“He can say what he wants, it is of course his opinion. Everyone can have an opinion. But I don’t agree with him and I don’t share the same opinion,” van Dijk said, before making it clear the Dutch squad didn’t stand behind van Gaal’s words.

Goalkeeper Mark Flekken echoed the defender’s sentiments by then, “If that’s his opinion, then he is allowed to share it. But personally I don’t agree with his opinion.”

That game will probably go down as one of the most heated matches in tournament history. Not only because of the 14 yellow cards shown by Mateu Lahoz, but also because of the heated exchanges between the teams before and after the game. Dutch manager Louis van Gaal made some comments that didn’t sit well with Messi, who celebrated Argentina’s second goal in front of the Netherlands bench.

“I came up with the ‘Topo Gigio’ [named in honor of a cartoon character, a goal celebration in which a player puts his hands to the ears as a sign of defying someone] right there and I automatically regretted it,” Messi told ESPN. “As soon as I did it I thought: ‘What an idiot. They can still tie it’. These things usually happen.”

How van Gaal made Messi, Argentina angry before the Qatar 2022 quarterfinal

Before the game, van Gaal made some controversial remarks about Argentina, claiming Messi has a passive attitude when his team doesn’t have possession. Besides, the former Oranje coach also said Leo didn’t touch the ball when his country faced La Albiceleste in the 2014 World Cup semifinals.

“The matter against the Netherlands was a little similar to what happened with Lewandowski. It bothers me when people talk off the field and disrespect the opponent. Before the game, I didn’t try to make Van Gaal angry, I didn’t disrespect him, I never did that, and I don’t like them to do that to me. I think Van Gaal did it with intention and their goalkeeper also spoke before the match. I don’t like these things at all. I’ve never been like this. On the field a million things can happen but it has to stay on the field.“

The Dutchman’s comments definitely backfired, as they served as bulletin board material for Messi and company. Angel Di Maria, who already held a grudge at van Gaal from his time at Manchester United, explained they were fired up by his words.

“It all started at the press conference. We were left with a lot of anger and energy inside that ended up being unleashed on the field,” said the Benfica star, who had previously called van Gaal the “worst coach” in his career.

Van Gaal says World Cup was rigged for Messi to win it with Argentina

The animosity between Argentina and the Netherlands went on even after the penalty shootout, with Messi having an infamous argument with Wout Weghorst. He also called out van Gaal in his post-match interview, “Louis van Gaal says that his teams play good soccer, but all he did was put tall people and spam long balls.”

Van Gaal eventually left his post to let Ronald Koeman take over, but he couldn’t let go. Months after the quarterfinal, the Dutch manager suggested the World Cup was fixed for Argentina.

“When you see how Argentina get the goals and how we get the goals and how some Argentine players crossed the line and were not penalized, I think it was all a premeditated game. Messi had to become world champion,” van Gaal told NOS.

Virgil van Dijk, Koeman and other prominent figures in Dutch soccer took distance from van Gaal’s accusations. But the coach’s stance against Argentina looks beyond repair.

“I don’t really want to say much about it. If you see how Argentina gets the goals and how we get the goals and how some of Argentina’s players crossed the line and weren’t punished, then I think it’s all preconceived game,” van Gaal told Dutch outlet NOS. “I mean everything I say by that. That Messi had to become world champion? I think so, yes.”

While van Gaal faced backlash from Messi and Argentina fans around the world, Virgil van Dijk made it clear he disagreed with his former coach. Koeman didn’t want to expand about this subject, though he seems to understand van Gaal.

Koeman addresses van Gaal’s comments on Messi’s World Cup win

“I wouldn’t have said it if I were him… I had moments in Spain where I had the feeling Real Madrid was more favoured than Barça, ​​but you can’t really prove it, so it’s better not to say anything,” Koeman said about van Gaal’s controversial comments, via NOS.

How many times have Argentina won the World Cup?

Argentina have been world champions on three occasions (1978, 1986, and 2022).

How many times have the Netherlands reached the World Cup final?

The Netherlands national team have made it to the World Cup final three times, finishing as runner-up in 1974, 1978, and 2010.

The Dutch manager had already taken a shot at Messi before their quarterfinal game, which turned out to be arguably the most heated match of the entire tournament.

Van Gaal’s comments didn’t sit well with Leo, who dedicated one of his goals to the former Barcelona coach that night. Months later, van Gaal suggested that the World Cup was fixed for Messi to lift the trophy.

What did Louis van Gaal say about Messi’s World Cup triumph with Argentina?

“I don’t really want to say much about it. If you see how Argentina gets the goals and how we get the goals and how some of Argentina’s players crossed the line and weren’t punished, then I think it’s all preconceived game,” van Gaal told Dutch outlet NOS. “I mean everything I say by that. That Messi had to become world champion? I think so, yes.”

Virgil van Dijk, Dutch players react to van Gaal’s comments

“I heard it this morning. He can say what he wants, it is of course his opinion. Everyone can have an opinion. But I don’t agree with him and I don’t share the same opinion,” van Dijk said about van Gaal’s comments in an interview with NOS. “So you and the squad don’t stand behind his words?,” the journsalist asked, to which the Liverpool defender replied, “No.”

Goalkeeper Mark Flekken echoed van Dijk’s sentiments with the same outlet, “We talked about Van Gaal’s comments regarding Messi this morning. If that’s his opinion, then he is allowed to share it. But personally I don’t agree with his opinion.”

How many times have Argentina won the World Cup?

Argentina have lifted the FIFA World Cup trophy on three occasions (1978, 1986, and 2022).

The match was also defined by a near bench clearing brawl between the two sides and Lionel Messi’s now famous post-match interview where he yelled “Qué mirás, bobo. Andá p’allá” to the Netherlands Wout Weghorst.

Now in an interview with NOS in the Netherlands, Louis van Gaal still continues to claim that the World Cup was set up for Lionel Messi to win.

Louis Van Gaal on Argentina and Messi

In the interview Van Gaal stated, “When you see how Argentina get the goals and how we get the goals and how some Argentine players crossed the line and were not penalized, I think it was all a premeditated game.

“Messi had to become world champion.” During the 2022 World Cup the Netherlands finished top of Group A, then they defeated the United States 3–1 in the round of 16.

Van Gaal resigned as head coach of the Netherlands national team following their defeat to Argentina, in his third stint the Orange went 20 matches without defeat.

In total Van Gaal has won 20 championships as a manager and 4 when he coached Barcelona. Van Gaal also was the manager to give Xavi his first crack at first team soccer, Xavi‘s debut in La Liga came against Valencia on 3 October 1998 in a 3–1 victory for Barcelona.

After more than 700 games as a Barcelona player the former midfielder became the coach of Barcelona in 2021 but has yet to win a championship with the Spanish giants. In a conference that aired on Movistar Plus both shared their experiences coaching Barcelona and Van Gaal offered his former pupil some advice.

Louis Van Gaal and Xavi chat

The biggest advice Louis Van Gaal gave Xavi was a simple one, “Be yourself” when managing one of the biggest teams on the planet. Xavi also admitted to his former coach there is a lot of pressure coaching the club, “I’m stressed Louis, it’s normal, it’s Barcelona. You suffer a lot, 24 hours at home thinking about how to help the team and the players, especially on a mental level because when the results are not good, they sink”.

Van Gaal answered, “You have to be yourself, always be the same person. That’s the advice I give you because if you change your personality, it’s over.” In his three seasons at the club Van Gaal was criticized for bringing in a lot of players from the Netherlands and not playing players from the youth ranks. Van Gaal also had a huge rift with Ivan De la Peña who was considered one of the best passers of the ball in the world at the time.

Van Gaal also had major issues with star signing Juan Roman Riquelme who would ignore the coach’s tactical instructions of playing on the wing, as the Argentine would cut into the middle and therefore was more effective. Riquelme would admit that no matter if he’d score goals or provide assists Van Gaal took him out of the lineup for being “irresponsible”.

Though Argentina now can celebrate their ticket to the Qatar 2022 semifinals, they still haven’t forgotten everything that’s been said before and during the Netherlands game. Especially by Louis van Gaal.

There was a lot of talk before the quarterfinal clash, with the Dutch coach making big headlines for his comments on Argentina and Lionel Messi. In his postgame interview, the PSG star took a shot at van Gaal.

Lionel Messi throws shade at Louis van Gaal after Argentina’s win

“Louis van Gaal says that his teams play good soccer, but all he did was put tall people and spam long balls,” Messi said following Argentina’s hard-fought win over the Netherlands.

Dibu Martinez was also seen furious at the Oranje bench, dedicating them some strong words after the penalty shootout. It was a very heated game, and the Argentine players didn’t have mercy on the opponents.

How far do you think Argentina will go in this World Cup?Using this World Cup Predictor, you can see every potential outcome of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Enjoy all the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup matches from the United States through FuboTV. Click here and to take advantage of their 7-day free trial offer.

Lionel Messi and company have restored hope in the country, where people look completely optimistic on their team’s chances of winning this year’s FIFA World Cup. The Dutch side, however, will mean a huge test to their aspirations.

It will certainly be a special game for everyone at La Albiceleste, withMessi possibly facing his last opportunity to win the coveted trophy in Qatar. But it’s safe to say Angel Di Maria will have extra motivation for this affair.

Angel Di Maria once called the Netherlands bossLouis van Gall the worst coach he’s ever had

Di Maria will see a familiar face in the Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal, though his memories aren’t great. Di Maria played under van Gaal at Manchester United, but it was a forgettable experience in his career as he lasted only one season at Old Trafford.

“My problem at Manchester was the coach,” Di Maria said in an interview with TyC Sports last year.“Van Gaal was the worst coach of my career. I would score, assist, and the next day he would show me my misplaced passes. He displaced me from one day to the other, he didn’t like players being more than him.”

After missing the Australia game, Di Maria is doubtful for Friday’s game. Will he help Argentina go further in Qatar?Using this World Cup Predictor, you can see every potential outcome of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Enjoy all the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup matches from the United States through FuboTV. Click here and to take advantage of their 7-day free trial offer.