DOHA, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Netherlands head coach Louis Van Gaal said the World Cup is just getting started as the Dutch take on Argentina in the quarterfinals in Qatar on Friday.
The two teams have a long history in the World Cup, with the most recent encounter being the semifinals in 2014, in which Argentina beat the Netherlands through penalty shootouts to cruise into the final, not to mention their clashes back in 1974, 1978, 1998 and 2006, where both teams had their ups and downs.
"We don't want to downplay other teams, but Argentina are different from those in the preliminaries," said Van Gaal at a press conference on Thursday. "The match in 2014 ended differently from what we expected. We'd like to change it now."
"We are really looking forward to the match against Argentina," the 71-year-old added.
"I'm not going to tell you," Van Gaal said of how to mark Messi in the game. "I'm not going to review my tactics and that's naive. But it's not hard to imagine."
Memphis Depay refused to answer if this will be a revenge of their loss in 2014, but he did believe that the Netherlands can catch the moment and go through into the semifinals.
"We haven't lost a game yet, the discipline in the team has tightened up since Louis arrived," Depay said. "It is really important to have results in this tournament and everybody knows his vision and character."
The striker also praised the mentality Van Gaal has brought into the team, where he built a strong team that "can play all different types of games, and most importantly win in different types games."
Depay was also confident in the possible penalty shootout despite his lack of penalty experience in the World Cup.
"I haven't done this myself. There will be lots of tensity and pressure, but we are professional players who are able to deal with it," Depay added. "We are prepared. But we hope to win the match in 90 minutes." ■
