Van Gaal takes aim at unfair third place match

10 July 2014 01:01

Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal lashed out at the World Cup's third place play-off match on Wednesday after his side's semi-final defeat to Argentina.

Van Gaal's troops must now travel to Brasilia to face World Cup hosts Brazil on Saturday for a game he believes should have been scrapped years ago.

"I think this match should never be played," van Gaal told reporters. "I've been saying this for 10 years. But we'll just have to play this match."

Van Gaal said the match condemns the losers to finish a tournament after another defeat, and that one side always has an extra day's rest.

"It's unfair also because we have one less day to recover, so that's not fair play," he said. "But the worst thing is that chances are you lose twice in a row.

"And after a tournament in which you've played so marvellously well, you'd go home as a loser just because you've lost the last two matches.

"This has got nothing whatsoever to do with sport.

"But I said this 15 years ago. You shouldn't have players play a match for 3rd/4th place, because there's only one prize that counts and that's becoming champion," said van Gaal who moves on from the World Cup to become Manchester United's manager.

Source: AFP