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Weary Dutch have no interest in 3rd place game

SAO PAULO — The Netherlands squad must stay at the World Cup when coach Louis van Gaal dearly wishes they could just go home. Next up? The game no one wants to play.

SAO PAULO — The Netherlands squad must stay at the World Cup when coach Louis van Gaal dearly wishes they could just go home. Next up? The game no one wants to play.

Faced with the prospect of the third-place game in Brasilia following a disappointing semifinal loss in a penalty shootout, Dutch coach Louis van Gaal has criticized the penultimate match of the tournament as meaningless and "nothing whatsoever to do with sports."

Van Gaal says he's been campaigning for over a decade for it to be scrapped.

Dutch forward Arjen Robben agrees, dismissing the relevance of the game. Asked how he felt about playing against Brazil for third, Robben replied: "They can keep it. Only one prize counts and that is becoming world champion." Germany and Argentina meet in Sunday's final. AP

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