DOHA: For their obsession with tactics, the Netherlands went out of the World Cup tossing aside tradition and using route one football to fight back against Argentina in Friday’s quarter-final, only to be eliminated in a penalty shootout.

The Dutch rallied with two late goals from Wout Weghorst to force extra time after Argentina led 2-0 through efforts from Nahuel Molina and Lionel Messi, who scored from the spot.

But Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis watched in agony as their spot-kicks were saved in the shootout by Emiliano Martinez as Argentina won 4-3 on penalties, setting up a semi-final with Croatia.

“We failed to score the first two penalties so that’s when things become really hard and tough. It is a matter of being lucky, a lottery,” said Van Gaal.

The 71-year-old was also the coach of the Netherlands when they were beaten on penalties by Argentina in the semi-finals of the 2014 World Cup.

The Oranje are unbeaten in 20 games under Van Gaal, including Friday’s match, but he confirmed he would be stepping down from the job as planned.

“It is incredibly painful to see how we’ve been eliminated because I did everything I could to prevent this," he said.

Veteran coach van Gaal had pricked Dutch sensibilities about the way the national team plays by changing the system ahead of the tournament in Qatar, abandoning the traditional attacking 4-3-3 approach and looking to play a pressing game and then catch the opponent on the counter.

The 71-year-old insisted it would be the only way to World Cup glory for the Dutch and it did see them win their group and advance through to the quarter-finals, albeit in an unconvincing run.

Van Gaal had to abandon all niceties and throw on two imposing centre-forwards, looking to find them in a ‘hit and hope’ fashion. It worked as Wout Weghorst scored twice to equalise in dramatic fashion and force the game into extra time.

The second goal was a freekick routine he brought from his time at Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg, with the ball played along the ground instead of over the defensive wall and then swept home by the tall striker.

Winning at all costs, even if ugly, had been Van Gaal’s mantra through the tournament, but left many Dutch purists upset.

Never short on self-confidence, Van Gaal brushed aside the critics with an insistence he knew best.

They showed flashes of potential with their passing game but playmaker Frenkie de Jong rarely got them going and there was only one game — in the last 16 against the US where the wingbacks proved effective.

Striker Cody Gakpo, who scored three goals in the group stage, impressed and can now look forward to transfer bids from some of the top clubs in Europe.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2022