The weekend beckons in Podgorica. As pedestrians vigilantly shuffle across zebra crossings, drivers boldly push the noses of their cars in front of those of others, sometimes honking their horns to signal that the other should step on the brakes. Not the right to priority, but taking it, is decisive in the capital of Montenegro. Balkan bluff on the boulevards.
Along those same boulevards, large flats tower above the few terraced houses that can be found there. Colossal complexes, dating from times when architects in the former Yugoslavia mainly built functionally. In some neighborhoods the residential floors seem to be placed on top of each other like blocks of duplicates. Stucco is peeling off. Colors have faded. As if there was no painter after the completion.
It gets brighter near the center. There the golden crosses glitter on the imposing cathedral and drab residential complexes make way for stately embassies, tightly plastered government buildings and luxury hotels, one of which has been occupied by the Dutch national team since mid-afternoon: the Hilton Hotel, directly opposite the Koningspark, the place where King Nikola, the last monarch of Montenegro, stands in rank on his pedestal
bears and wolves
If national coach Louis van Gaal allows himself a good glass of wine late in the evening, in Podgorica’s only rooftop bar, he will not be disappointed with the view. In the darkness around the city, he will see the outlines of the ‘Land of the Black Mountains’, as Montenegro is called. There is also a legend about it. Namely that the mountains and forests where bears and wolves live are said to be the work of the devil. It was God who traveled the world with a bag full of boulders, soil and seeds to form the landscape. Then the Devil cut open the sack, above the site of the smallest of all the Balkan states, Montenegro.
However, it is still early in the evening, and Van Gaal is sitting in front of a sponsor board brought by the KNVB in the Hilton, where he has settled down for a business intermezzo. He will spend approximately 45 hours in Montenegro with only one goal: to secure three points in the hunt for a World Cup ticket.
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That ticket can already be obtained on Saturday evening against the national team of Montenegro, provided Norway spills points earlier in the evening against Latvia and the Netherlands wins. In that case, participation in the World Cup in Qatar, autumn 2022, is a fact. And it does not come down to the mutual duel with the Norwegians, Tuesday in the Kuip.
It was already about that match against Norway on Friday evening. Not so much about the match itself, but about the fact that the Kuip will be empty that evening, where Van Gaal made clear in unconcealed sentences what he thought of the political decisions involved. underlie. Van Gaal agreed with the statement issued by professional football on Friday, a statement showing incomprehension for playing without an audience. “This looks like policy poverty, people in The Hague no longer know what to do,” it said. And: „Playing in front of an audience forms the basis of professional football and the foot lovers have been unable to attend any matches or hardly any for a year and a half. They are once again the victims of a failed government policy. Football is not the problem, but now seems to be punished again.”
Van Gaal: “If you take measures, you have to monitor and enforce them. I live in Portugal and that’s where it happened. We have no more infections, hospital beds are occupied very minimally.” That has to do with leadership, according to the national coach. “I think Mr Rutte is the leader of this people after all. You may also like that.”
“Look, a Portuguese is docile,” Van Gaal continued. “They don’t discuss putting on a face mask (…) They are very different people than the Dutch who always think they know better. I also think I know a lot better, but then I also understand it.”
When asked whether the now infamous Portuguese ‘vaccination general’ could do a good job in the Netherlands: “We are not going to talk about politics here. We play against Montenegro. And that is an important match for us. You may think not, but it is, in the run-up to the game against Norway.”
Number 73 in the world
So in the end it was again about Montenegro, whose more than six hundred thousand inhabitants since 2006 no longer belong to Serbia. The independent national football team followed a year later. Sandwiched between Iraq and North Macedonia in 73rd place in FIFA’s world rankings, the team still has a fairly blank record. Montenegro has produced top players in the past, such as Predrag Mijatovic, former star player at Real Madrid. But men like him are mainly remembered as Yugoslavia players, not Montenegrin.
Montenegro never took part in a final tournament. The Netherlands won the home game 4-0, although the Orange squad was lost there in the first “twenty minutes”, as Van Gaal said last week. “Individually they can all do something, as a team it is less.”
They were reflections he shared in a generous mood. His press conferences may be notorious, but this week he spoke mainly with the press. On Tuesday, Van Gaal even said that his philosophy was outdated, a rather spicy statement from the trainer who is known for being tenacious.
It was about the fact that due to injuries he had decided to call up eighteen-year-old Devyne Rensch. Considering his qualities not so remarkable, were it not for the fact that Rensch has not played three full matches for Ajax this season. In Van Gaal’s two previous terms in office, this meant that a player would not be selected any time soon. No rhythm, no Orange. But that is in the past. “Van Gaal also has to keep up with the times,” he said. “I have to evaluate my vision. And although it is actually something I can’t stand, given his talent I still wanted to select Rensch.”
According to captain Virgil van Dijk, the Orange squad will be prepared for all scenarios on Saturday evening. A result of all the meetings that Van Gaal has organized during the week. „In which every phase of the match is discussed (…) He talks a lot with players. Is very direct. I think this group likes that. Confronting? Yes. But criticism is also there to make us perform better.”
What exactly had he changed since taking office, a Montenegrin journalist finally asked. For a moment it looked as if Van Gaal would escape a sigh. Because where should he start? But then his eyes lit up again, and he talked extensively about tactics. His vision may be subject to change, but the way in which he conveys his messages is not.
A version of this article also appeared in NRC in the morning of November 13, 2021
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