Louis Van Gaal, Robin Van Persie and Arjen Robben Honoured at Dutch Sports Gala

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal picked up the Coach of the Year of the award at the 2014 Dutch Sports Gala in an evening dominated by those associated with the Netherlands football team.

Paul Gilham/Getty Images

As noted by Joe Strange of the Mail Online, the Manchester United boss was honoured after guiding the Oranje to an unexpected third place at the World Cup in Brazil, while Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben—who was sensational at the finals—was named Sportsman of the Year at the ceremony in Amsterdam.

Robin van Persie won the coveted Moment of the Year award for his stunning header against Spain at the 2014 showpiece and the squad itself picked up the Team of the Year gong.

The Dutch made a surprise run to the semi-finals of the tournament, eventually finishing third after losing to Argentina in the last-four on penalties before beating Brazil 3-0 in the third-place playoff match.

Here is the manager with his award, per Dutch Football Twitter account:

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Louis van Gaal coach of the year at the 2014 Sports Gala pic.twitter.com/kHpc7UgAyc

— Dutch Football (@football_oranje) December 16, 2014"

While the Red Devils boss is never a manager you’d label unassuming, he was especially modest when picking up the award, per ManUtdStuff:

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Van Gaal on his award: "I don't deserve this award. We were 3rd. We've 28 World champions and 8 Olympic champions here."

— Nabit (@ManUtdStuff_) December 17, 2014"

Van Gaal did a wonderful job getting a squad that was bristling with young, inexperienced talent so far in the tournament and some of his tactical decisions were vital in the Dutch progressing. But he also managed to get the best of the older heads in the squad as well. 

Jeff Gross/Getty Images

The standout moment of the entire tournament was the Netherlands’ 5-1 demolition of reigning champions Spain in the group stage and it’s a match in which Van Gaal’s tactical acumen, Van Persie’s breathtaking header and Robben’s blistering counter-attacking all played a vital part.

But the Manchester United striker’s goal was particularly impressive on that marvellous evening in Salvador. It was like nothing ever seen on the world stage and a goal so significant it galvanised the Dutch side into a sensational fightback. The header has also been nominated a potential winner of FIFA’s Puskas award, distributed to the scorer of the year's best goal, per BBC Sport.

Here’s a reminder of the goal, courtesy of Unibet:

Robben won arguably the most coveted award of the evening, though. He became the first footballer to be named the Sportsman of the Year in a very long time, too, as noted here by Dutch football expert Michiel Jongsma:

Naturally, the former Real Madrid and Chelsea winger was delighted to pick up such an accolade, per the Bayern Munich Twitter account:

Indeed, Robben’s versatility—Van Gaal deployed him as a centre-forward for the vast majority of the World Cup—goalscoring, creativity and irrepressible work ethic was at the heart of the Netherlands’ thrilling campaign. Individually, he is a player that seems to be blossoming with age, too, as he looks set for even more honours with Bayern in the upcoming campaign.

Andrew Medichini/Associated Press

Van Gaal and Van Persie have also carried some momentum from the World Cup into their domestic season. The manager has steered United to six consecutive wins at the time of writing, while the forward seems to have rediscovered his golden touch, scoring four goals in his last four outings, per WhoScored.com.

At the moment, the Dutch national team is in something of a lull following the highs of the World Cup, with Guus Hiddink struggling to replicate the spirit, cohesion and sense of purpose that was so prevalent under Van Gaal. But these awards should do plenty to pep up the morale among all those associated with the Oranje as they look towards the European Championships in 2016.