DOHA, Qatar — The exchange between Louis van Gaal and the journalist was short, but it captured the essence of the Netherlands‘ manager: confident and belligerent, but completely assured in his own ability.
Of the many slightly tense moments between the media and Van Gaal — both here at the World Cup and over the course of his 36-year career, with spells as a head coach at Ajax, Barcelona (twice), AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and Manchester United — this one came after Netherlands’ 2-0 win over hosts Qatar. It was Van Gaal’s 18th match in charge and in his third spell with the national team. They’d been unbeaten in all 18. It was a dire game, but Netherlands got the win they needed to top the group.
Van Gaal, 71, said he was delighted with the win. A journalist mentioned that there was some criticism back home over the style and manner of the triumph: in short, some had found the performance boring. But to Van Gaal at this World Cup, it’s about substance over style. He wants wins and doesn’t care how they come, nor will he listen to anything contrary to his way of seeing things.
“Of course you can give your opinion,” Van Gaal said in response to the questions of style and aesthetics. “I don’t agree with you and I’m not going to expand on that because I think that you have a different perspective on football than I have. Write it down that it’s boring and that you’re going home tomorrow because you couldn’t care less.”
The journalist responded: “I’m here until the final.” Van Gaal fired back: “Excellent, I’ll see you there.”
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Van Gaal came to the World Cup with a goal to win the tournament. Some managers are apologetic in their ambition, shying away from bold predictions. Not Van Gaal. Having learned from his two previous tenures with the national team, he was going to be bullish, on the front foot, squeezing one last drop of ability and ambition out of the squad. They are hard at work preparing for a quarterfinal date with Argentina, just days after comfortably defeating a US side many thought had the youth and aggression to prevail.
Yet, for so long, it looked like Van Gaal was done with management. When the Dutch came calling for him, it had been five years between jobs. In that time he’d settled in the Algarve with his wife, Truus, and played golf virtually every day. But there was still an itch of unfinished business; the lure of having one last shot at the World Cup proved to be too tempting.
Two months later, Van Gaal was criticised for appearing to be “grumpy” in news conferences. “There’s nothing I can do about that,” Van Gaal said in response. “I answer the way I am. If you ask questions of which I think ‘you can’t ask this,’ I will correct you. I did this my whole life and I won’t change.”
Van Gaal was growing increasingly frustrated at journalists revealing his starting XI some 24 hours before games, but he was slowly moulding a squad he felt was capable of winning the World Cup, accounting for even the most unlikely of misfortune. Then, on Nov. 14, 2021, he fell off his bike, injuring his hip. He was rushed to hospital and confined to a wheelchair. The fall came just two days before their key World Cup qualifying clash with Norway in Rotterdam, but Van Gaal had a solution: he organised and called the training sessions from a golf cart. He had to do the prematch news conference over Zoom, unable to fit his wheelchair through the room’s door.
With Van Gaal watching from high up in the stands sitting in his wheelchair, his Netherlands beat Norway 2-0. Job done and qualification secured; Van Gaal was heading to his second World Cup. He was tearful after the match, reflecting on how the players made him promise he’d stay in the camp despite his injuries. “Yes, I am an emotional man,” he said. “When the players and staff tell you they want you to stay…” His voice cracked and he took a moment to compose himself before the next question.
But there was his secret. Beneath all this confidence was a man battling prostate cancer.
