Holland vs Costa Rica: Louis Van Gaal hijacks the headlines

Up until the last minute of the match, the World Cup 2014 quarterfinal between Holland and Costa Rica had been a showcase of tactical and coaching excellence by the Costa Rican manager Jorge Luis Pinto. Against presumably more privileged opposition, they worked tirelessly to execute a strategy which not only held off Holland, but also carried an unexpected threat. The latter nearly brought them an improbable winning goal right at the end of extra time, after the Dutch replaced defender Bruno Martins Indi with striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

As it turned out, going into the penalty shootout, the talking point of the game became the decision of Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal to bring on substitute goalkeeper Tim Krul to replace Jasper Cillessen. Commentators and pundits saw it as a bold gamble, and now that the Dutch have won the shootout, hail it as a managerial masterstroke. 

The logic behind this change is hardly innovative, and is similar to the practice in American football of bringing on specialists for particular roles, e.g. field goal kickers. The truth is that it was not the big gamble as made out in the press. With the roulette nature of the penalty shootout, even had Tim Krul not made a single save, no one could reasonably have argued that keeping Cillesen on would have changed the outcome. Van Gaal would still have enhanced his reputation for making bold moves. And now that the shootout is in Holland's favour, Van Gaal would be credited for a substitution which won Holland the game. From a personal point of view, it was a no-lose situation for Louis Van Gaal.

It would be cynical to suggest that self-promotion and ego would have been a factor in Van Gaal's decision, however subconsciously. But the truth is that the match was all about the quality of Costa Rica and Jorge Luis Pinto, and Louis Van Gaal has managed to hijack the headlines. That, perhaps, is tactical brilliance afterall.