Netherlands head coach Louis van Gaal defended his tactics following his side's late 2-0 win in their final group fixture of the 2014 World Cup against Chile on Monday.
Despite having already qualified for the last sixteen of the competition, both sides were looking to top Group B and avoid Brazil, who were the favourites to top Group A.
While Chile needed to win the game to top Group B, Netherlands only required a draw (due to their superior goal difference).
Due to this reason, the Dutch side were happy to sit deep and defend, while letting Chile dominate possession.
However, Chile were unable to break down the Netherlands defence and the Dutch side finally won the game courtesy some late strikes from substitutes Leroy Fer and Memphis Depay.
While Fer broke the deadlock in the 77th minute via a thumping header past Chile goalkeeper Cillessen Daryl, Depay added the finishing touches following a quick counter attack led by Arjen Robben.
Although many people criticised the Dutch side, who scored many goals against Spain and Australia, for employing defensive tactics against Chile, van Gaal insisted that that was the only way to beat the South American side.
"If I played 4-3-3 against Chile, Robben would have had to run after them. They can't do that for 90 minutes," van Gaal told reporters after the match. " You just have to play according to your strengths, it's all about winning. I'll pick a system that helps me win."
The soon-to-be Manchester United boss feels that his tactics against Chile were very effective, considering they created a lot of chances and gave nothing way.
"This is proof of the pudding. We're not giving away very much, but we're creating a lot. If I didn't do that, you'd chop off my head. And, by the way, I played like this with AZ and won the championship. Me and my staff, we only ever want to score one goal more than the opponents."
Meanwhile Robben, who was one of the stand-out performers of the match, expressed his pleasure after beating Chile.
"We gave nothing away and fought like lions. Oranje lions. I'm very proud of this team. If you see how we fought here today. We were right on top of them and gave them no chances."
