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Cape Town - Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal admits that his side’s 2-1 victory over Mexico in the round of 16 was "an escape".
The Dutch needed an 87th-minute equaliser from Wesley Sneijder to get back in a contest they looked set to lose after Giovani Dos Santos opened the scoring for El Tricolor after 48 minutes.
Klaas Jan Huntelaar then converted from the spot in injury time after Arjen Robben had been adjudged to have been fouled in the area, sending van Gaal’s men into the quarter-finals.
Speaking after the match, the Dutch mentor admitted that he had been forced to tweak his tactics in order to grind out the win.
“It was an escape. In the second half we showed that we could create more chances,” Van Gaal told FIFA.com.
“When we had this cooling break, it was when we could start with Plan B. I knew we were going to have this cooling break. We trained for this, with Huntelaar and with Dirk Kuyt up front and long deep balls.
“The group of players are very modest and we're going to continue the road that we have embarked on. We have an outstanding team spirit.”
