“Very fanatical and sharp on the ball”

Louis van Gaal believes that the Netherlands national team will face a difficult match against the United States in the eighth World Cup finals. The match between the Netherlands and the United States is scheduled to take place on Saturday afternoon at 4pm Dutch time.

“I haven’t seen them yet, only in the abstracts. So you don’t have a good picture. But they’re second, so they’re undoubtedly less good than No. 1.”

“I know from experience that the matches we’ve had against countries like the United States and Australia, which we’ve had in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, are always very difficult,” the 71-year-old national coach continued.

“They are very fanatical and smart on the ball.” Eight years ago, the Orange narrowly beat Australia in the group stage, 3-2.

American footballers hope to have Christian Pulisic on Saturday. Chelsea’s attacking midfielder scored the only goal (1-0) in the final group match against Iran, but he was also injured.

Pulisic hit the ball from close range in the 38th minute, after a preparatory work for the rookie right-back Serginho Dest (formerly Ajax). The scorer clashed heavily with Iranian goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand. Pulisic did not return to the field after the end of the first half.

And Pulisic reassured American football fans on Tuesday night. He said from a hospital in Qatar that he recovered in time. “I am so proud of my boys,” Pulisic writes, along with a photo of himself in a hospital bed that was posted online by the American federation. “Don’t worry, I’ll be ready for Saturday.”

The United States is undefeated in this World Cup. Former Eredivisie player Greg Berhalter, who played football for BEC Zwolle, Sparta Rotterdam and SC Cambuur, won 1-0 against Iran on Tuesday night and previously played draws with Wales (1-1) and England (0-0). . England finished first and will face Senegal in the Round of 16.

Therefore, Van Gaal expects a difficult match, but the Orange have a positive balance against the United States. The Orange team has won four of the previous five meetings with the Americans. Those were all training matches. Lost the last match in 2015: 3-4.

The first match between Orange and Team USA took place in 1998 in Miami. The Netherlands won thanks to goals from Ronald de Boer and Clarence Seedorf.

Four years later, the score was 2-0 again for the Orange. In 2004 and 2010, the Dutch national team beat the Americans 1-0 and 2-1 in Amsterdam, respectively.