‘In Louis We Trust’ – Netherlands poke fun at USA and NBA legend Charles Barkley’s ‘guarantee’ with pre-match motivational video

The World Cup has featured plenty of stories of teams using opposition words for motivation, and now the Netherlands are having their go.

Ahead of the Oranje’s 3-1 win over the US, their official Twitter account posted a pre-match video that featured the audio of an incredibly confident American basketball pundit Charles Barkley.

TNT

3

@OnsOranje

3

This follows Croatia getting riled up by Canada coach John Herdman saying his team would ‘f*** them’ and England continually being asked about a clip of Wales’ squad celebrating their 2016 Euros knockout to Iceland.

Now the Dutch have followed the trend after NBA legend Barkley massively backed the USA to knockout their last 16 opponents, which they then failed to do.

Sitting on a panel with the very recognisable face of NBA hall of famer Shaquille O’Neal, Barkley ‘guaranteed’ a US win, and made it into the team’s pre-match montage.

In a clip of the dressing room featuring the players’ kits, Barkley is heard saying: “We’re going for the Netherlands, we’re opening up a can of whoop-ass.

“I guarantee the Netherlands are in trouble.”

A different American voice then takes over and says: “Here the masterplan is the only thing that counts.”

@OnsOranje

3

The camera then pans round to the dressing room door which has a dollar bill on it, and as it gets closer, it becomes clear that it features the face of Dutch national team manager Louis van Gaal.

“In Louis We Trust,” says the voice over, mirroring the words on the note, which also reads ‘one goal’.

Whether or not Barkley’s words genuinely annoyed the team, we may never know, but they still made easy work of sending the US packing.