‘Credit to the coach, these are his tactics’ - Robin van Persie lauds Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal

 

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Jubilant: Van Persie delighted after 5-1 victory
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Andy Hodgson14 June 2014

Netherlands captain Robin van Persie was full of praise for head coach Louis van Gaal after they disposed of reigning World Champions Spain, 5-1.

The Manchester United striker levelled proceedings just before the interval, with a superb diving header that looped over the lacklustre Iker Casillas, before the Netherlands unleashed a second half whirlwind on a hapless Spain side.

"The whole country must enjoy this,” Van Persie told NOS after the match. “I scored the equaliser in a perfect moment for us. We went to the dressing room with a good feeling. The 2-1 goal from Arjen Robben was scored in a fantastic moment.

Spain v Netherlands - player ratings

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"This is a dream come true for Netherlands. Sometimes inexplicable things happen. We must not forget that we only have three points. We must now continue. That is the reality.

"For them [Spain] it was a huge blow,” he continued. “After that we continued. Often you stop after 3-1. But we kept going and going. All credit to the coach. These are his tactics. He already predicted how the match would go. Incredible."

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