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Cape Town - Netherlands head coach Louis van Gaal insists that he never doubted that his side would beat Australia on Wednesday.
The Dutch had to come from 2-1 down to see off the Socceroos 3-2 as they backed up their opening round demolition of Spain with another three points, a haul which ensured their spot in the last-16 after Chile defeated the Spaniards later in the day.
While many may have questioned whether Oranje could avoid a shock loss, van Gaal says that he always knew his team had the game under control.
"I'm not relieved, because I believe in the second half we played better than Australia," Van Gaal told Fifa.com.
"In the first half they played better, but in the second half we had five, six, seven chances.
"I expected us to win. When (Australia's Mathew Leckie) missed that chance, I said to Patrick Kluivert, 'We're going to win this match."'
The Dutch will now look to defeat the impressive Chileans in their final group clash, with the team that tops the pool likely to avoid a meeting with Brazil in the next round.
The Dutch had to come from 2-1 down to see off the Socceroos 3-2 as they backed up their opening round demolition of Spain with another three points, a haul which ensured their spot in the last-16 after Chile defeated the Spaniards later in the day.
While many may have questioned whether Oranje could avoid a shock loss, van Gaal says that he always knew his team had the game under control.
"I'm not relieved, because I believe in the second half we played better than Australia," Van Gaal told Fifa.com.
"In the first half they played better, but in the second half we had five, six, seven chances.
"I expected us to win. When (Australia's Mathew Leckie) missed that chance, I said to Patrick Kluivert, 'We're going to win this match."'
The Dutch will now look to defeat the impressive Chileans in their final group clash, with the team that tops the pool likely to avoid a meeting with Brazil in the next round.
