Netherlands vs Costa Rica World Cup 2014 match preview: Louis van Gaal hopes 'lucky bracelet' can lead Oranje to the final
Dutch manager promising to wear the bracelet all the way to the final
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Your support makes all the difference.Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal has stated he will wear a lucky bracelet given to him by children for another three matches - meaning it will travel all the way to the World Cup final.
"I didn't make the bracelet," the new Manchester United boss said. "The children from the head of the sponsors at ING Bank made it.
"I was given it because her children made it and I promised to wear it. I will wear it again, of course.
"I will always wear it when I'm coach of Holland and that is another three matches, as you know."
The Netherlands face Costa Rica in Salvador tonight hoping to take another step towards a fourth World Cup final.
Van Gaal has said he is looking to the elder statesmen of his squad to guide the Oranje into a potential semi-final against Argentina or neighbours Belgium.
"We have four or five older players and the influence of these is quite substantial," Van Gaal said. "We have a young group and Robin (van Persie) is the captain, the man responsible for the younger ones.
"He does that with (Arjen) Robben, (Dirk) Kuyt and (Wesley) Sneijder. That's good and pleasant for a coach to have players who will do everything it takes and look after the young players, in the spirit of the coach. I'm pleased with that.
"Like the Costa Rica players, the rest don’t have experience of this level of football, but our senior guys mean we have a slight advantage."
Van Gaal also claimed that his team, who have put in some of the strongest performances of the torunament so far, are not "fantastic".
"Our goal is to become world champions and we are a team that is difficult to beat," he added. "We are not a fantastic team, but we're very difficult to beat."
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