Netherlands head coach Louis van Gaal says his side does not need to play to entertain after they ground out a 1-0 World Cup qualifying win over Latvia in Riga on Friday.
Davy Klaassen netted a 19th-minute winner for the Dutch to move clear in Group G, although they needed an injury-time save from goalkeeper Justin Bijlow to preserve their lead.
Klaassen s goal came when he volleyed home a Memphis Depay corner with Van Gaal s side putting in an uninspiring performance, where they bossed 75 per cent possession and had the bulk of the chances with 19-10 shots and 4-1 shots on target.
Van Gaal would not be drawn on his side s ability to entertain, insisting World Cup qualification is the only goal after the Dutch missed out in 2018.
We don t have to entertain the public here, van Gaal told NOS after the game. We have to make it to the World Cup, that s the goal.
These are very difficult matches. Every long ball was a fight with that striker [Roberts Uldrikis] of theirs.
The Netherlands sit clear atop Group G with 16 points, two points ahead of Norway, who drew with third-placed Turkey 1-1 on Friday.
Van Gaal conceded the Dutch invited Latvia s pressure, with Bijlow denying Igors Tarasovs late, by not adding to their one-goal advantage and felt they should have scored more.
It has become 0-1, but it could also have been 0-4, 1-6 or 2-1, he said. We did that ourselves. Frenkie de Jong s pass was too soft and Denzel Dumfries did not come to the ball. Everything went wrong there.
He added: We had 15 chances and they had four. We had 75 per cent of the ball. That is not surprising, because I had already expected this.
You can say it’s not that great, but we won 1-0, and Turkey-Norway made it 1-1. We are one step closer to the World Cup.
