Netherlands head coach Louis van Gaal has claimed that he will be asking his players to give him a leaving present when they face Brazil on Saturday evening.

The 62-year-old will leave his role after the tournament to become Manchester United's new manager, and he is desperate to end his reign on a high following the penalty-shootout defeat to Argentina in the World Cup semi-final on Wednesday night.

"It's going to be part of my speech that it will be my last match and I hope the players want to give me a present in the form of a victory, so that we remain undefeated," Van Gaal, whose side have not been beaten in 90 minutes this summer, told reporters.

"Slowly but surely we are realising that we have to go for it. A Dutch team has never returned home unbeaten and that is now our aim.

"There is still something for us to do. We can still write history because the Netherlands lost matches in 1974 and 1978."

Van Gaal has been critical of FIFA for persisting with the idea of a third-place playoff at World Cups.

Written by
Callum Mulvihill