Oranje head coach Louis van Gaal has spoken about the Netherlands World Cup draw.
- Follow Football-Oranje on Twitter
Netherlands will face hosts Qatar at the World Cup along with African cup of Nations winners Senegal and South American side Ecuador.
After the draw with Germany earlier this week, Van Gaal predicted Netherlands would draw Qatar. Speaking to NOS, he said, “That was a guess, but it’s nice that the guess will come true. It’s a colorful draw.”
Reflecting on this draw compared with 2014, Van Gaal said you can’t take it lightly, “Then we had to compete against world champions Spain, a top country from South America (Chile), and a team of fighters from Australia. We had the hardest time with that last team. So you can’t say much about it beforehand.”
Van Gaal knows little of the opponents, “I have not been to Qatar and Senegal that often. In Qatar once with Bayern and two years ago I was on holiday in Senegal. I have never been to Ecuador. I don’t know those countries either, so I can’t really say anything about them. Fortunately, we have very good scouts, who have to analyze the opponents. So far they have done a fantastic job because we haven’t lost yet…”
The Nations League games will now be used to prepare Netherlands new system for the World Cup, “We now have six Nations League matches, which I use to prepare for the World Cup. We play on the first day of the competition, so there is no time to prepare well. But if we get far, it will be an advantage at the end of the tournament.”
Follow
Follow @Footballoranje_ on Twitter
