Even after his 15th consecutive unbeaten match with the Dutch national team, national coach Louis van Gaal remained critical of his orange team. “I said in my last speech to the boys, we played badly. We were not good at possession, but we were good at possession of the opponent,” said the national coach after the small (1-0) victory over Belgium in the last match before the start of the Qatar World Cup.

Van Gaal overtook record holder Dick Advocaat as the Netherlands national coach with the most wins on Sunday. Victory over Belgium Van Gaal had his 37th victory with Orange on aggregate.

Advocaat, who, like Van Gaal, coached the national team in three terms, needed 62 matches to score 37 victories. Van Gaal reached this number after 58 caps. Van Gaal will only be able to score his hands at the World Cup in Qatar in November.

The victory over the southern neighbors means certainty for the Dutch national team about its participation in the Final Four, the final round of the Nations League, which will be held in the Netherlands next June. Van Gaal is no longer there. In January he will be succeeded by Ronald Koeman.

Van Gaal has a much more important mission: the World Cup in Qatar. In the run-up to the crucial match against Belgium, the national coach saw the disappearance of important players such as Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay. Martin de Ron and Vincent Janssen were the substitutes.

Van Gaal especially liked de Ron. “He was one of our best players. In fact, we were the starting party for ninety minutes, but we still kept discipline. Just like against Poland, we lost a lot of ball in the first half. We didn’t play our best.”

However, it is difficult to beat Orange, the national coach admitted. “If we are below the opponent we can play very compact. That is the strength of this Dutch team. Belgium had a higher speed of the ball, and we had difficulty with that. In the second half we increased the pressure a little bit by the left. In the side, but they were better. In the end we had the best chances. He should have made Bergwijn three times.”

Goalkeeper Remko Pasfer can pack his bag for Qatar. Ajax’s final place kept a clean sheet against Poland and Belgium. “This also had something to do with the team,” Van Gaal said. “He made no mistake, but it was a simple act. I think the Pasphere will come.”