Netherlands boss Louis Van Gaal blasts FIFA over World Cup fixture row

Louis Van Gaal feels that FIFA has been lenient to Brazil over fixture they have set

Netherland’s manager Louis Van Gaal has blasted FIFA over the World Cup fixture schedule which could make the Oranje face Brazil in the next round.

The newly appointed manager of Manchester United felt that FIFA are being lenient to the host and have made the fixtures in such a way that they face Netherlands in the next group.

"FIFA plays these tricks. It's not a good thing," said the Oranje Manager

"It's not fair play. I think at a World Cup the host country always has an advantage"added Van Gaal.

According to the schedule Brazil would face Cameroon after the Dutch face-off against Chile which seems unfair to Van Gaal since the hosts initially had kicked off their first two matches before the Dutch.

The Samba boys beating Cameroon would see them top the group while a draw or a loss might see them slip depending on the result between Croatia and Mexico.

In this case, Van Gaal would certainly like to top the group and even a draw would help since they lead Chile on account of goal difference. The winner of group A would play the runner up of group B and the Oranje would certainly want Brazil to top their group which looks very much likely.

"If I were allowed to choose, I'd rather not play against Brazil, although Croatia or Mexico aren't bad opponents either,"said Van Gaal.

Brazilian manager Luiz Felipe Scholari defended FIFA’s alleged leniency towards the host.

"We have to play to qualify, not pick and choose our opponents. It was FIFA who chose the kick-off time” said Felipe Scholari

"Some people expressed a view that we were going to choose whom we were going to play. Those sorts of comments are either stupid or ill-intentioned" added the former manager of Portugal.