Van Gaal – Photo Credit: Flickr

Dutch football and Louis Van Gaal have sealed a deal which will see the “Iron Tulip” return for one last stint as national coach, a news report said on Wednesday.

Van Gaal has agreed to lead the talented but inexperienced Dutch eleven to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. 

The Royal Dutch Football Federation and Van Gaal, “have just reached an agreement that will see the new national coach set off on his third stint,” the tabloid De Telegraaf reported. After years as a “temporary pensioner in Portugal, Van Gaal inevitably has pushed back his retirement again,” it said.

The manager’s appointment follows the resignation of Frank de Boer late last month after the Netherlands’ dismal Euro 2020 last-16 elimination by the Czech Republic.

Since then, the KNVB has scrambled to find a replacement ahead of the team’s next international against Norway. 

The Netherlands, under De Boer, already lost 4-2 against Turkey in a World Cup qualifying game and a further reverse against Norway will make qualification much harder. 

Van Gaal’s second stint with the national team in 2014 saw them take third place at the World Cup in Brazil.

He then went on to take up a coaching job with Manchester United, but was unceremoniously axed by the club two days after winning the FA Cup in 2016. At the time he said winning the FA Cup with the Red Devils was the greatest achievement of his career.