Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal has revealed he was the subject of taunts from goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez after the Oranje were defeated by Argentina in a dramatic penalty shoot-out.
The Dutch missed out on a place in the last four of the World Cup following Martinez's heroics between the sticks for La Albiceleste to conclude what was an ill-tempered affair between two proud footballing nations. It was a thrilling encounter that saw the Oranje recover a two-goal defecit in the final 20 minutes to send the game into extra-time courtesy of a brace from Wout Weghorst.
After the extra half an hour failed to separate them, the tie went to the dreaded spot-kicks which saw the Netherlands' World Cup dream meet its end after both Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis saw their efforts saved by Martinez.
Tensions had been rising from the moment Leandro Parades booted the boll into the Dutch bench late on in the second-half of normal time and carried on right through to full-time after the shootout, as Van Gaal revealed: "I speak a little Spanish, after the game the goalkeeper of Argentina told me that I spoke too much."
Martinez said as much to the media, when he claimed: "I heard Van Gaal saying, ‘We’ve got an advantage in penalties. If we go to penalties we win.’ I think he needs to keep his mouth shut."
Footage has since circulated of Martinez confronting Van Gaal and the rest of the Netherlands bench after the game, with the Aston Villa shot-stopper furiously gesticulating and barking something in their direction.
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Argentine icon Lionel Messi was also spotted arguing with Van Gaal and his assistant Edgar Davids during the post-match handshakes. Messi then broke off from a post-match interview to berate Dutch forward Wout Weghorst, shouting: "What are you looking at fool/stupid?. Get back there."
The contest marked the end of Van Gaal's time at the helm of the Dutch national team and most likely his time in professional football altogether.
He cut a forlorn figure as he told reporters: "First and foremost I won’t be continuing. I only did it for this period of time. This was my very last match of my third term as head coach," Van Gaal said in his post-match press conference.
"In that time I coached 20 matches and we didn’t lose a single one. I don’t know how many matches we won, but you can Google ‘Louis van Gaal, Dutch team’ and see the goal difference for yourself."
He was slightly more optimistic when discussing the quality of the squad he bids farwell to, adding: "I look back on it in a very positive way. With England we were the only team that was unbeaten. I don’t think we have been beaten today. It was only a penalty shoot-out. What I’m leaving behind is a great group.
"Personally and football-wise this is a team that is very close and with a lot of skill. I was coach for 20 matches and we never lost over that time. That’s for a reason. We’ve played against top countries as well, although those countries were eliminated earlier in the competition."
