Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal says two of his players refused to take the first penalty in their World Cup semi-final shootout defeat by Argentina.<\/p>\n
Defender Ron Vlaar stepped up but Sergio Romero – a player who was “taught how to stop penalties” by Van Gaal at AZ Alkmaar – saved his kick.<\/p>\n
Argentina won the shootout 4-2 and will face Germany in Sunday’s final.<\/p>\n
“I asked two players to take the first ball before ending up with Vlaar,” said new Manchester United boss Van Gaal.<\/p>\n
“I thought he was the best player on the pitch so should have confidence.”<\/p>\n
Van Gaal was also left to rue the intervention of goalkeeper Romero, who he signed for AZ from Buenos Aires-based Racing Club in 2007.<\/p>\n
The Argentine spent two years working under Van Gaal before the 62-year-old departed for Bayern Munich.<\/p>\n
“I taught Romero how to stop penalties, so that hurts,” Van Gaal said. “We were the club to bring him to Europe.<\/p>\n
“He was a big talent, and someone who has the qualities to do that.”<\/p>\n
Romero sought out his former manager at the end of the match.<\/p>\n
“I went to the dressing room to thank him,” he said. “He is someone who helped me a lot when I arrived in the Netherlands, in a completely different country, with different customs.<\/p>\n
“At the beginning I didn’t speak a word, and he spoke Spanish and he helped me a lot.”<\/p>\n
The last-four tie in Sao Paulo was decided by penalties following a goalless draw where both sides barely threatened in an uninspiring 120 minutes.<\/p>\n
The Dutch scored all four of their spot-kicks to beat Costa Rica in the quarter-final shootout when captain Robin van Persie converted their first effort.<\/p>\n
But with the Manchester United striker substituted in extra-time, Van Gaal was forced to turn to Aston Villa centre-back Vlaar.<\/p>\n
His low effort was stopped by Romero, who then denied Wesley Sneijder as the Dutch missed two of their four penalties.<\/p>\n
“It just goes to show it’s not easy scoring in a shootout,” said Van Gaal. “It’s the most terrible scenario, to lose on penalties. At the very least we were equal with them, if not the better team. It’s a big disappointment.<\/p>\n
“Winning on penalties in your previous match should give you confidence. We took those penalties in an incredible way against Costa Rica,”<\/p>\n
Van Gaal’s side now face Brazil in Saturday’s third-place play-off in Brasilia but the Dutchman said: “In a tournament you shouldn’t have players play a match for third or fourth place.<\/p>\n
“There’s only one award that counts, and that’s being world champion.”<\/p>\n
Against Costa Rica, Van Gaal brought on substitute goalkeeper Tim Krul in place of Jasper Cillessen for the shootout – a tactic which worked as Krul saved two spot-kicks.<\/p>\n
But he was unable to call on the Newcastle player again, having already made his three substitutions after withdrawing Van Persie in favour of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.<\/p>\n
“If I had had the opportunity to substitute Jasper I would have done that but I had already used three substitutes so I couldn’t,” Van Gaal said.<\/p>\n
“I thought it was necessary to get Van Persie out because he was on his last legs. My feeling was that Huntelaar would make the goal.”<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC Sport<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal says two of his players refused to take the first penalty in their World Cup semi-final shootout defeat by Argentina. Defender Ron Vlaar stepped up but Sergio Romero – a player who was “taught how to stop penalties” by Van Gaal at AZ Alkmaar – saved his kick. Argentina won […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":30896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[115,1179,29,3,818,1623],"yoast_head":"\n