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The Herald:

The footage of Louis van Gaal dancing, smiling and hugging his way around the foyer of the Netherlands team hotel as they returned from their last-16 victory over the United States on Saturday night has been one of social media's most joyous moments during this World Cup.

Make no mistake, the 71-year-old can be as bitingly cold as a winter's night in the Highlands when the notion takes him but at these finals he has reason for cheer. This is the twilight of Van Gaal's managerial career: in April he announced he had been receiving treatment for aggressive prostate cancer. Preceding that revelation had been a tale of stoicism and bravery – when the Dutch met for international fixtures in World Cup qualifying, Van Gaal had worn a catheter under his tracksuit during training sessions and underwent treatment at night so that his players did not discover that he was ill.

Whatever happens to the Netherlands in tomorrow's World Cup quarter-final against Argentina, this has been a tournament that has brought a form of redemption for Van Gaal.

When he exited Manchester United in 2016, he did so with his reputation churned up by a football club that has since become a byword for dysfunction.

He arrived at Old Trafford nearing the end of his cycle but also as one of the most decorated coaches of his generation. Van Gaal was not just someone who won trophies, he was an era-defining voice, a tactical genius who had inspired the careers of Jose Mourinho, Marcelo Bielsa, Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp.

At United, it was a disaster almost from the start. He had been away from the club game for three years, but he'd still guided the Netherlands to the semi-final of the World Cup final in 2014 and been lauded for his decision to introduce penalty specialist Tim Krul in the final minute of extra time against Costa Rica prior to a shootout victory in which the goalkeeper saved two spot kicks.

During his time at Old Trafford, he was ridiculed by former United players turned pundits, took the blame for poor signings and was the subject of ire from supporters yet he still walked away at the end of his second season with an FA Cup win. It was a campaign during which the players had openly revolted in the dressing room following a 3-0 defeat at Tottenham.

When he recalled his time at the club in 2019, he was damning in his assessment of Ed Woodward, the United chief executive, and the club hierarchy.

"They had seven players over 30,” he said. “We spoke about that at the job interview. In my first year we qualified for the Champions League. In my second we won the FA Cup. To win the FA Cup when, for six months, the media has a noose round my neck, is my biggest achievement. Unfortunately, we are talking about a commercial club, not a football club.”

What Van Gaal was saying back then continued to echo around the power structures at United until very recently when an overhaul of the backroom staff was instigated under Erik ten Hag – it says plenty about Van Gaal's standing in the Dutch game that the new Manchester United manager sounded out his predecessor before agreeing to take the job. Van Gaal, as it happens, advised him against accepting the post.

But that was then and this is now. Van Gaal is unbeaten as Netherlands manager since returning in 2021, a period spanning 19 games. He has never lost a match over 90 minutes at a World Cup either. The body of work at these finals has been incomplete – the group phase pitted the Dutch against some of the weaker teams at these finals – but their last-16 win over the United States was much more convincing, and more reminiscent of Van Gaal of yesteryear. Their opening goal – a 20-pass move after they had sized up the States for 10 minutes – seemed to suck the life out of their opponents, skittling their aggressive pressing game in the process.

The odds are stacked against the Netherlands tomorrow evening when they take on Argentina in Lusail Stadium but they were underdogs when an Oranje team – containing nine players who made their debuts under Van Gaal at Ajax – pulled off one of the shocks of the 1998 tournament by knocking out the South Americans.

Just imagine the scenes in the team hotel if Van Gaal were to mastermind a similar upset this time around.

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