Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal will use the UEFA Nations League camp to establish his side’s best ‘penalty killer’, as he considers taking four goalkeepers to the Qatar World Cup.
Van Gaal is keen to use his nation’s final League A Group 4 ties with Poland and Belgium on September 22 and 25 to put the last touches on his World Cup plans. Holland will compete with Senegal, Ecuador and the host nation, Qatar, in Group A on November 21, 25 and 29.
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But the knockout rounds are already playing on Van Gaal’s mind as he puts extra attention on potential penalty shoot-outs. The Netherlands have included four goalkeepers in their squad for this week’s Nations League ties and have invited another two to join for training.
Van Gaal will put all of his goalkeepers through their paces in a special training session on Wednesday. He is determined to use the final international break before the World Cup in Qatar to determine who the Netherlands’ best penalty saver is among their shot-stoppers.
“I’m looking for the best penalty killer, and so we are testing all the goalkeepers,” he said. “I’m always looking for the little advantages and that’s why I’m giving this issue special attention. We’ve seen in the past how penalty shootouts play a big role at the World Cup.”
Van Gaal has not yet ruled out naming four goalkeepers in his 26-man Netherlands team at the World Cup in Qatar. But the Holland coach adds, via quotes by Reuters: “I’m not sure yet because Fifa haven’t given us clarity on this issue, but I think it’s logical to do so.”
Van Gaal has previous with Netherlands and penalties at a World Cup finals
Van Gaal showed the importance of knowing who the Netherlands’ best penalty saver was during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. He switched his goalkeeper minutes before the end of extra-time in Holland’s quarter-final against Costa Rica with a shoot-out near in Salvador.
Neither nation managed to break the deadlock across 120 minutes of action at the Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova. So, Van Gaal took Jasper Cillessen off for Tim Krul, who would keep out Bryan Ruiz and Michael Umana to advance to a semi-final with Argentina 4-3 on penalties.
But Van Gaal would not repeat the trick against La Albiceleste at the Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo four days later. Another goalless stalemate ensured back-to-back shoot-outs for the Netherlands, but misses from Ron Vlaar and Wesley Sneijder saw Argentina win 4-2.
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