Despite their World Cup semi-final elimination on penalties by Argentina, the Netherlands and their coach Louis van Gaal will move on from the tournament with their reputations unquestionably enhanced.
Van Gaal can hand over to Guus Hiddink having fulfilled his primary objectives and will take up his role at Manchester United having confirmed his status as one of the leading tacticians on the planet.
Dick Advocaat, one of van Gaal’s predecessors at the Dutch helm, even went as far as to say that the 62-year-old was “the best coach in the history of the Netherlands”.
Following the debacle of Euro 2012, when Holland went out in the group phase after three defeats, van Gaal took charge of a team ravaged by doubt and in need of a completely new defence.
“Van Gaal was the only one who could have pulled it off,” Advocaat told Dutch daily De Telegraaf. “It was such a difficult challenge that only Louis was capable of meeting it.”
One of van Gaal’s biggest gambles was to build a defence almost exclusively composed of young Eredivisie players such as Stefan de Vrij, Bruno Martins Indi and Daley Blind who had no prior experience of international football.
The Dutch media expressed scepticism on the eve of the tournament, with several commentators speculating that van Gaal’s young side would struggle to emerge from a group that also featured Spain and Chile.
Van Gaal declared that he was “targeting the final”, but his famed self-confidence — deemed arrogance by his detractors — left some supporters uneasy.
But then came the opening 5-1 win over defending champions Spain, and with it a delayed revenge for Holland’s 1-0 defeat in the previous World Cup final four years previously in South Africa.
“I had doubts at the beginning of the tournament, but I was quickly reassured by the qualities of this team,” said playmaker Wesley Sneijder.
– ‘He’s won everything’ –
Van Gaal’s tactical flourishes confirmed his aptitude for tournament football.
He had faced criticism for jettisoning the traditional Dutch 4-3-3 in favour of an innovative 5-2-1-2 system, but it turned his side into a counter-attacking machine in the image of flying winger Arjen Robben.
A supposedly fragile defence became a fortress, conceding only four goals (including two penalties) in six games.
Meanwhile, the inspired decision to send on reserve goalkeeper Tim Krul in place of Jasper Cillessen for the quarter-final penalty shootout against Costa Rica earned him national adulation.
By repelling two penalties, Krul helped to make Van Gaal one of the stars of the tournament.
“A coach is there to take the best decisions at moments of great tension,” was Van Gaal’s understated explanation.
For Advocaat, “Van Gaal has won everything in club football, so he has nothing left to prove. He can therefore allow himself to take risks for which he alone is responsible.”
Hiddink will receive a generous inheritance from Van Gaal, thanks to whom players such as Cillessen, De Vrij, Martins Indi and Georginio Wijnaldum will be that bit more prepared for the 2016 European Championship in France.
This World Cup, however, could prove to be the last major tournament for old-stagers such as Sneijder, Robben, Robin van Persie and Dirk Kuyt.
For Hiddink, himself no stranger to success in international football, the initial challenge will simply be to live up to the standards set in place by Van Gaal.
Before that, Van Gaal must prepare his side for Saturday’s third-place play-off against Brazil.
He declared in his post-match press conference on Wednesday that it was a fixture he considered “unfair”, but the opportunity to showcase his tactical acumen one more time is unlikely to be one he will ignore.