Email
Louis van Gaal admits the hot and humid conditions in Fortaleza are a concern for his Holland players ahead of Sunday’s second round match against Mexico. “I was here a year ago and it was hotter then. Even so, the humidity is so high, it will affect the match and that is the reason we tried to get the players to be as fit as possible,” Van Gaal said. “I’m quite conscious that it will also affect the Mexican team and I know they’re much more used to it than we are.”
Temperatures in Fortaleza have been hovering between 25C and 30C the past few weeks, compared with lower temperatures in Rio de Janeiro, where the Dutch team have been based, and São Paulo and Porto Alegre, where they played their two most recent matches. “Of course it’s hot, it’s very hot. It’s a lot hotter than in Rio and the other cities that we played,” the midfielder Leroy Fer said. “But the other teams are also affected. We feel we are well prepared.”
Fer will sit out the match against Mexico, Van Gaal added, while Bruno Martins Indi is still recovering and will stay on the bench as a potential substitute. “You don’t really know when an injury is done and over with. He trained yesterday, 11 against 11, but that doesn’t really mean he can play in these extreme conditions,” Van Gaal said of the Feyenoord defender. “But he can be a substitute. He will be on the bench.”
Mexico and Holland will both prepare for the match away from the Arena Castelão in a bid to preserve the pitch, which “is not that good,” the Dutch coach added.
Netherlands have “fined tuned our strategy” to defend against Mexico and will base it on lesson learnt from its previous match with Chile, in which the Dutch team won two to nil, Van Gaal said.
“There’s not such a big difference in the way that Chile plays and Mexico plays,” he said. “They play according to their quality, their skills and they’re very eager to win and this eagerness to win is the best part of football.”
;