Kuyt: Van Gaal can succeed at United

Netherlands winger Dirk Kuyt said Louis van Gaal is destined for success, after leading the Dutch to the FIFA World Cup semi-finals.

Van Gaal’s men were eliminated by Argentina 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out after normal and extra time had ended scoreless in Sao Paulo on Wednesday.

The 2010 finalists failed to match their effort from South Africa, as Ron Vlaar and Wesley Sneijder had their spot kicks saved, sending the Argentines through to Sunday’s final.

Kuyt said despite their failure, Van Gaal will take a winning culture to the Premier League as he prepares to join United for the 2014-15 season.

“There was only one thing for this coach and he just wanted to win this cup. That is the type of coach he is, he just wants to win things,” the Fenerbahce man said of Van Gaal.

“He is desperate to be successful and I am sure he is going to be successful in his next job.

“The spirit is part of everyone. Of course the coach is leading us. But team spirit is amazing.”

Kuyt said the disappointment of the defeat was lingering, and he was not thinking about their third-place play-off with hosts Brazil in Brasilia on Saturday – a fixture Van Gaal has already called to be scrapped for future World Cups.

“You see the team with the young players we have. Five or six of those players today are in the Dutch league and are in the semi-final of the World Cup. We can be very proud of the team,” Kuyt said.

“I am not thinking about the next game as I am so disappointed we didn’t get to the final. I really believed in it and believed it was our tournament and we did well.

“We were so close to reaching the final and I had confidence we could beat Germany. Now we have to focus on another game.

“We did so well, we came so far that it would be a shame to go home with two losing games.”

Kuyt hailed his squad’s depth, with Van Gaal using all bar one player as they topped Group B before a run to the last four.

“The 23 players were really important and almost everyone played except for Michel Vorm, and that says a lot about this team,” he said.

“We are not 11 players, we are 22 players and an enormous staff of 26 people and everyone played their part in this success.”