Was slapped by van Gaal for not listening to him: Robin van Persie

Dutch supervisor Louis van Gaal was identified for his tactical genius and moderately eccentric nature all through his illustrious profession as a supervisor. He was the top coach of the Netherlands aspect that completed third on the 2014 World Cup and later took over at Manchester United, working with striker Robin van Persie each occasions.

Van Persie and Arjen Robben have been seen as the 2 talisman gamers of the Netherlands group that performed on the 2014 World Cup. Van Persie was the captain of the aspect however the former striker revealed that there was a second through the event when van Gaal slapped him close to the touchline throughout a match.

It was Netherlands’ quarter-final match in opposition to Costa Rica and the match had gone into additional time. A penalty shootout was on the playing cards and van Persie began cramping up simply earlier than the ultimate whistle went off. Van Gaal knowledgeable him from the touchline that he was about to be substituted however van Persie refused to be taken off. The match ultimately went to penalties with the striker nonetheless within the taking part in XI.

“When the match was finished and we gathered near the touchline, he got close to me and suddenly hit me. Bang! With a big flat hand he dealt me a blow and said in an angry way ‘don’t ever do that to me again’,” van Persie was quoted as saying in van Gaal’s new autobiography ‘LVG – The Manager and the Total Person.’

“I looked at him absolutely stunned. Louis said, ‘Just get on with it and make sure you get it in the net from the spot’.”

Van Persie did find yourself scoring from the spot however the hero of the shootout was goalkeeper Tim Krul, whom van Gaal shrewdly introduced on simply earlier than the ultimate whistle for the shootout. Krul stored out the Costa Ricans and Netherlands gained the shootout 4-3.