Just before midnight, Louis van Gaal sipped the coffee he had just been served and bit into a biscuit.

Then the bond coach startled at least the German journalists present at the press conference with a confusing corona confession.

A positive PCR test prevented his trip to Qatar for the World Cup draw on Friday.

"Don't get too close to me," boomed the warning from the Dutch national coach, accompanied by a smirk, through the media room at the Arena in Amsterdam.

Dealing with the pandemic differently

positive test?

With van Gaal?

Hadn't the Bond coach just hugged national coach Hansi Flick and DFB goalscorer Thomas Müller in the stadium after the 1-1 win in the entertaining World Cup test of the football rivals?

"Great to see Louis van Gaal again," Müller wrote in English on Twitter about a picture of the warm encounter.

The statements of the 70-year-old van Gaal made one thing clear.

In the Netherlands, the pandemic is dealt with in a fundamentally different way.

Van Gaal, who was infected with Corona the previous week, was back on the bench in the 4-2 win against Denmark last Saturday.

The overwhelming majority of 50,000 spectators in the arena were no longer wearing masks on Tuesday.

A negative proof was not required to enter the stadium.

There is no longer an ordered free test after a positive result in the Netherlands.

There is only the recommendation that you do a self-test after five days and if you have no more symptoms for 24 hours.

Van Gaal gave a slight cough on the press podium.

But that was more likely due to a cookie crumb in his throat.

The former Bayern coach is not allowed to go to Qatar.

The World Cup host requires a negative PCR test for entry.

Apparently van Gaal cannot present it at the moment.

The whole situation does not cause him any major concerns.

"I trust the team doctor," he said.

In Doha his assistant Danny Blind will now represent him in the classification of the World Cup opponents.

The Netherlands are seeded in the draw like the German team in the second-best pot.