Argentina vs Holland has a duel between the youngest and oldest coach of the Cup

Louis van Gaal, 71, had not even warmed up the chair in the interview room at Al Bayt Stadium when the observation came:

“Many people in Holland think the team is not playing well.”

The team had just beaten Qatar 2-0 in the last round of the group stage. The trainer frowned. He replied that the journalist, if he was not satisfied, could go home.

“No, I’m staying until the final,” returned the reporter.

“Great. See you there then.”

The quarterfinal match between the Netherlands and Argentina this Friday (9), at 4 pm (Brasília time), at Estádio de Lusail, pits two coaches with age differences, but equal thinking. Van Gaal is the oldest World Cup coach. Lionel Scaloni, 44, the youngest.

For the Dutch, it’s all or nothing. Life or death. The tournament in Qatar is his last chance to win the most important title of all. He will leave the national team and has already made it clear that he does not plan to return. The Argentine is in the first job of his career. Last month, he signed a contract renewal until 2026, which should guarantee him at the World Cup to be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

“Football, in the end, is just a sport. We want people to be happy with the result on the field, but if it doesn’t happen, they feel identified and valued by these players”, analyzed Scaloni, with the same desire to be champion of the rival, but less urgency.

He had already said something similar after the 2-0 group stage victory over Mexico. His assistant Pablo Aimar was spotted crying after Lionel Messi’s goal. The coach would later say that a football match cannot be seen in such a passionate way.

“We can’t live like this,” he summed up.

For van Gaal, yes, you can. He overcame prostate cancer to be in his last Cup. For his game ideal and strong personality, he collected fans and enemies in the world of the ball. He won Champions League, national leagues and cups, club world. He always went into confrontation with journalists without the slightest ceremony. Your press conferences can be anything but boring.

“I’m not going to answer your question. It’s stupid,” he snapped on the eve of the quarterfinals against Argentina.

It was about forcing athletes to take penalties if the spot for the semifinals is defined that way. Scaloni, much less irascible, also lost his temper when he heard the insinuation that Argentina could enter the field with an eye on the decision for kicks from the penalty mark.

“It makes no sense. How am I going to think about penalties when there are 120 minutes to play? It would be mediocre to do that. We think about winning in normal or extra time”, he commented.

He also mocked the news that Rodrigo De Paul, with a muscle strain, would no longer play in the tournament. He said that the steering wheel trained this Wednesday (7) and called the information “strange” with a smile of contempt on the tip of his lips.

Van Gaal’s reaction to the memory of Ángel Di María could be more irritated. It would be consistent with his way of being. But it was what yielded his funniest moment in Qatar. The Argentine attacking midfielder said the Dutchman was the worst coach he had worked with in his career. They were together at Manchester United between 2015 and 2016.

“Di María is a very good player, but when he arrived in Manchester he had a lot of personal problems. It affected his physical condition. He is one of the few who have referred to me in that way. It is usually the other way around.. I find it sad that he said that. But that’s how it is. A coach needs to make decisions”, he tried to explain.

“Memphis Depay played for me [no Manchester United] and now we are here. I failed to climb it a few times. Even so, we can kiss each other on the lips. But not now”, he added, while the main striker of the selection laughed and made a sign with his hands that he would not kiss anyone.

Van Gaal has had big love relationships with his players and big fights. Robin van Persie recalled that being managed by the Dutchman and in clubs it was like dealing with two completely different people.

Scaloni is the one who had never managed anyone in his life and was successful in his mission to make Lionel Messi happy with the Alviceleste shirt. Something that seemed impossible and that the striker confessed has not happened since 2014, when he was runner-up under Alejandro Sabella. With the rookie’s calm and assertive presence, the team won last year’s Copa América. Argentina broke a 28-year drought without a major trophy.

The two have in common the eternal preaching of balance in team building. But even when mocking the possible tactical ignorance of the press, the two are different.

Scaloni adopts a professorial tone, with a little impatience, when he says, for the thousandth time, that his team does not play in the 4-3-3.

“Who is our open striker on the left?”, he asks, as a conductor in the classroom

Van Gaal is more open on the annoyance. Especially when he is confronted with the difference between the champagne football of his 1995 Champions League champion Ajax and the much more pragmatic Netherlands of today.

“Football is not the same as in 1988 or 1974”, he contests, when talking about the years, respectively, in which the Netherlands won the European Cup and were world runners-up. “That’s the way it is. You can criticize me, but football has evolved that way. Attacking and defending was much simpler than it is today.”

As if the ball had been lifted for him, Scaloni kicked it minutes later to agree with the veteran. As if the age difference were a number because in the way of seeing things, the two are the same.

“In the past, there were four or five players just to attack and others just to defend. That doesn’t exist anymore”, completes the Argentine.

There are more that bring them closer. Both dream of the World Cup final.

Van Gaal even made an appointment with a journalist on this day.