• World Cup

Van Gaal: FIFA playing tricks over schedule

ESPN staff
June 22, 2014
Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal and forward Robin van Persie take part in a training session © Getty Images
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Louis van Gaal has hit out at FIFA for "playing tricks" by claiming the World Cup fixtures give Brazil an unfair advantage.

The Netherlands coach is angry that Brazil play their final Group A match against Cameroon four hours after his side face Chile in Sao Paulo on Monday, despite having played each of their first two group matches before the Dutch did theirs.

Brazil will know the identity of their potential last-16 opponents by the time they kick-off, with Luiz Felipe Scolari's side on course to play the loser of the Netherlands' match against Chile if they win their group.

"For every match FIFA have this advertisement around fair play," said Van Gaal, who will take over as Manchester United manager after his commitments at the World Cup come to an end. "FIFA plays these tricks and it's not a good thing. It's not fair play.

"We're going to focus on a victory against Chile and I don't think that will be affected by the fact Brazil will play after us.

"I am just assuming they [Brazil] will do their sporting duty. Why on earth are they [FIFA] doing that [with the fixture schedule]? That is the question."

Van Gaal also believes Brazil will be keen to avoid his side, given the way the Netherlands have started the tournament with gung-ho victories over Spain and Australia.

"I can well imagine that Brazil doesn't want to face Holland," he said. "We have scored a lot of goals. True. And we have we scored fantastic goals. True as well."

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