Football
ESPN staff 10y

Van Gaal unhappy with dugout view

Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal has complained about the view from the dugout at the Estadio Beira-Rio in Porto Alegre, saying it is not good enough.

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Van Gaal, whose team face Australia at the stadium on Wednesday as they attempt to follow their 5-1 demolition of World Cup holders Spain with another victory, made his complaint after a training session there.

The coach told a news conference: "The key issue is football, and the manager is part of football -- and I have no view, because in the middle of the pitch [on the touchline] there is a cameraman who deprives me of the view, with me and all the coaches and managers sitting on the ground because we are dug under rather than dug out.

"That obliges us to stand up. I'm a sitting down coach, not a standing up coach. The person in charge of this should ask, so I've done my very best, as he will."

The Guardian quotes Van Gaal as adding after the news conference: "The dugout is at a lower level than the pitch, and from where I sit there is also a camera directly in front so I will be like this [motions from side to side] to try to watch the game. I will need a bar stool to watch the game properly."

FIFA released a statement in response to his comments, saying it was examining the possibility of "adjusting the current position of the camera to mitigate the obstructed view."

However, world football's governing body stressed that the camera would not be removed and the dugouts would not be repositioned.

It said neither France coach Didier Deschamps nor Honduras counterpart Luis Suarez had complained about the dugouts after their teams met at the Estadio Beira-Rio.

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