Louis van Gaal is to replace Bert van Marwijk as coach of the Dutch national football team. Van Marwijk quit last month after Oranje’s poor showing in the Euro 2012 championships.

Van Gaal, 60, has signed a contract to take the Dutch team up to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. He has been without a job after leaving Bayern Munich in April last year and had been tipped to take over at Ajax. That fell through following opposition from Johan Cruijff.
Danny Blind, who was interim technical director at Ajax during the row over Van Gaal, will assist him with the national squad.
Van Gaal previously coached Oranje from 2000 to 2002 but quit after failing to qualify for the World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
Challenge
‘I am pleased that the football association approached me,’ he said. ‘This is the challenge I have been waiting for.’
The appointment of Van Gaal surprised football pundits. ‘He’s a great choice,’ said commentator Hans van Breukelen in the Volkskrant. ‘He is the most successful trainer the Netherlands has ever had… time will tell if he has learned from the earlier period. But I do think he is entirely suitable to build up the Dutch team again.’
Former international and Oranje coach Marco van Basten told news website nu.nl: ‘I’m surprised but actually I think Van Gaal is a good choice. He is an experienced coach. But I am curious as to how he will perform.’
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