World Cup 2014 11am Bulletin: LvG gets it right again

Louis van Gaal deserves huge credit for the Netherlands' success

For the third Netherlands match in a row, Louis van Gaal made savvy tweaks to alter the outcome...

Following the Netherlands 2-0 victory over Chile in their final Group B game, in which two of the players that Louis van Gaal brought off the bench (Leroy Fer and Memphis Depay) got the goals, Arjen Robben remarked that his boss must have golden genitalia.

Memphis had already been introduced to score the winner in the previous fixture with Australia and van Gaal's flair for mid-match metamorphosis warranted even more celebration after Sunday's absorbing round-of-16 clash with Mexico.

The Netherlands were heading out with 15 minutes to go, making the decision to remove Robin van Persie terrifically bold. A greater surprise still was replacing him with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, one of two outfield players he hadn't utilised until then, seeming to ignore him entirely in the group stage.

The Schalke striker provided the assist for Wesley Sneijder's rocket of an equaliser before converting the late penalty that subjected Mexico to yet another round-of-16 elimination having been a star turn at this pulsating World Cup.

A Dutch path to a fourth final is now opening up in front of them, with Costa Rica confirmed as their quarter-final opponents thanks to an exhausting penalty-shootout triumph over Greece. If they survive in Salvador next Saturday, one of Argentina, Switzerland, Belgium or USA await in the semis.

As each of that quartet are either yet to produce an outstanding performance to justify their hype despite winning starts (Argentina and Belgium) or are deemed to lack the quality to go the distance (Switzerland and USA), support for the Netherlands at 2.6813/8 to reach the final is understandable.

While the Dutch and Costa Ricans have six days to prepare themselves for their next test, four more sides strive to secure last-eight spots in the other half of the draw on Monday, with France and Nigeria colliding in Brasilia and Germany and Algeria meeting in Porto Alegre.

Tipster-in-form James Eastham recommends backing France to lead the Super Eagles at the interval, while Kevin Hatchard expects Thomas Muller to feature prominently again as Germany overcome Algeria.

Recommended Bet: Back Netherlands to reach the final @ 2.6813/8