Van Dijk, Depay and Wijnaldum train with Netherlands - in pictures

Dutch have manager Louis van Gaal back in charge for a third time as they take on Norway on Wednesday

Louis van Gaal is preparing to start his third spell as Netherlands manager this week with the Dutch taking on Norway in a World Cup qualifier.

Former Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United coach Van Gaal was once again named as Dutch national team boss after replacing Frank de Boer, who quit after Netherlands lost to the Czech Republic in the last-16 of the European Championship in June.

His previous two spells in charge were from 2000-02 and 2012-14, the latter of which saw Netherlands beat host nation Brazil to seal third place at the 2014 World Cup finals.

Van Gaal, who has just turned 70, will have been delighted to see captain Virgil van Dijk back on the training pitch after the centre-half missed Euro 2020 as he was still recovering from a serious knee injury picked up playing for Premier League side Liverpool last season.

Van Dijk has played in all three league games for the Merseysiders who have conceded just one goal. At the other end of the pitch for the Dutch should be Memphis Depay who has scored two goals in three matches since completing a summer move to Spanish giants Barcelona from French side Lyon.

The Dutch play three World Cup qualifiers in the space of seven days starting at Norway in Oslo on Wednesday, and then home to Montenegro on September 4 and Turkey three days later.

They sit second in the table — one point behind leaders Turkey — after two wins and a defeat in their opening three group games and are level on points with Montenegro and the Norwegians.

Updated: September 01, 2021, 3:03 AM