A humane attitude from the Netherlands coach saves Depay .. Revenge from Argentina motivates the "mills" star
The coach of the Netherlands, Louis van Gaal, is from a committed school that does not violate its principles, but he put it aside somewhat when he restored the soul to the body of his "injured" star, Memphis Depay, affirming his great faith in him on the eve of the Qatar World Cup 2022.
Depay injured his hamstring on international duty in September and his recovery took longer than expected, but Val Gaal showed he was ready to deal with the fitness of the country's second-highest goalscorer.
"Memphis has been very important to this group, not only as a footballer but also as a human being," Van Gaal said when announcing his squad last month. "So yeah, I left an open space for him."
“He is an exceptional player and so I set aside my principles because I consider him very important to my team,” the well-known coach explained upon his arrival in Qatar.
"I explained this to the players, that I'm doing all this for Memphis, and the players accepted," he added.
Depay began his international career as a 20-year-old and finished third under Van Gaal himself at the 2014 World Cup, but was part of the squad that missed out on the tournament in Russia four years earlier.
And the Barcelona striker confirmed that another failure could not be faced by scoring 12 goals in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers - the highest total in Europe, equal to English striker Harry Kane - and he is one of only three "survivors" from the Netherlands squad that participated in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Van Gaal cautiously brought Depay back into the squad, using him as a substitute in the Netherlands' first two matches in the tournament.
He assisted one of the goals as the Netherlands beat Senegal 2-0 in their opening match, and played the second half in a 1-1 draw with Ecuador.
Depay then made his first start in over two months as the Orangemen sealed their place in the knockout stages with a 2-0 victory over hosts Qatar.
Frankie de Jong converted Depay's shot from close range to seal the score and send the Dutch into the last eight to face the United States.
Against the talented but inexperienced Americans, Depay capped off an impressive 21-pass attack by scoring the first goal in a 3-1 victory.
It was his 43rd goal in 85 caps for the Netherlands since his debut in 2013, propelling him past Klas-Jan Huntelaar and moving within seven goals of Robin van Persie's all-time record.
"There is a big difference if you involve Memphis Depay or not," said Van Gaal, when responding to the comparison between him and Arjen Robben's role in the 2014 World Cup.
Depay gathered his team-mates to give a pep talk after the Qatar game, as Robben did after their semi-final in Brazil.
"Maybe Memphis has adopted that side of Arjen. It might be. I only applaud it if the players take that kind of initiative," the coach said.
And he added, "It is clear that he has a special personality on his own. So was Arjen at that time. So did Memphis: a unique player."
Another sign of Van Gaal's unwavering faith in Depay was his sarcastic response to the player's public admission that he would prefer to play alongside Steven Bergeven, with Kody Khakpo in his place, in the Netherlands' 3-4-1-2 formation.
"He might just say his opinion. I don't know if it's reasonable, but it could happen. Everyone is allowed to have their own opinion. Especially in the Netherlands," Van Gaal replied.
Depay's role has declined this season in Barcelona after the arrival of Polish striker Robert Lewandowski, and next January may witness the transfer of the player - with his return to Manchester United not being ruled out.
It was Van Gaal who initially brought Depay to Old Trafford in 2015, but both fell short of expectations before leaving 18 months later.
Van Gaal and Depay are reunited in the national team, dreaming of leading the Netherlands - who have gone 19 matches unbeaten since Van Gaal took over for a third spell in August 2021 - to their first World Cup title.
Argentina, led by the deadly Lionel Messi, stands in its way when they meet in the quarter-finals on Friday, in a revenge match par excellence after Messi and his companions broke the hearts of the Dutch eight years ago when they won a penalty shootout to reach the final.
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Memphis Depay,
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