'Depay had to deal with it too, now we kiss on the mouth!' - Van Gaal gives hilarious response to Di Maria's 'worst manager' dig

• Di Maria has been scathing about coach
• Will face Netherlands at World Cup
• Van Gaal has laughed off criticism

WHAT HAPPENED? Van Gaal will come up against Di Maria at the World Cup on Friday when his Netherlands side face Argentina in the quarter-finals. Ahead of the game, the Dutchman has been asked about comments made by Di Maria in September 2021, when he said the coach was the "worst" of his career and the reason why he failed at Manchester United. Van Gaal was in typically hilarious form as he played down the comments and pointed out that Memphis Depay had also had a tough time at Old Trafford.

WHAT THEY SAID: "Di Maria calling me the worst manager he has ever had? He's one of the few players with this opinion," he told reporters. "I'm really sorry about this and I find it sad he said this. Memphis had to deal with it too at Manchester, and now we kiss each other on the mouth."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Both Di Maria and Depay struggled to shine at United but have gone on to impress elsewhere. Depay is now with Barcelona and has thrived working under Van Gaal for the Netherlands national team. The forward was on target last time out in their round of 16 World Cup win over the USMNT and now has 15 goals in 17 caps since Van Gaal took charge of the Netherlands for the third time in August 2021.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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DID YOU KNOW? Van Gaal is unbeaten in his 11 World Cup matches as a manager (W8 D3) and if Netherlands avoid defeat against Argentina, he will equal Luiz Felipe Scolari's record of 12 games without defeat from the start of a World Cup managerial career.

WHAT NEXT FOR VAN GAAL? The Dutchman will aim to guide his team past Argentina and into a semi-final against either Croatia or Brazil.