WC exit on penalties ‘incredibly painful’, says Van Gaal

Agency :
Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal said his team’s loss to Argentina on penalties in the quarter-finals of the World Cup (WC) on Friday was “incredibly painful”.
The Dutch rallied with two late goals from Wout Weghorst to force extra time after Argentina led 2-0 through efforts from Nahuel Molina and Lionel Messi, who scored from the spot. But Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis watched in agony as their spot-kicks were saved in the shootout by Emiliano Martinez as Argentina won 4-3 on penalties, setting up a semi-final with Croatia.
“We failed to score the first two penalties so that’s when things become really hard and tough. It is a matter of being lucky, a lottery,” said Van Gaal. The 71-year-old was also coach of the Netherlands when they were beaten on penalties by Argentina in the semi-finals of the 2014 World Cup. This is the second time we lost to Argentina this way. Two World Cups with the same coach for the Netherlands.