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Louis van Gaal to Dutch parents: Let kids stay up late

Lee Smith / Action Images

SAO PAULO (AP) Louis van Gaal has some advice for Dutch parents: let your kids stay up late to watch the Netherlands-Argentina World Cup semifinal match on Wednesday - they won't sleep even if you send them to bed.

The match at Sao Paulo's Itaquerao Stadium doesn't start until 10 p.m. Dutch time — when most young children are usually already sound asleep.

But Van Gaal, a former physical education teacher with a reputation as a tough disciplinarian, believes parents should bend their usual bedtime rules.

Van Gaal tells a Dutch youth news program at a news conference Tuesday: ''I would always let my kids watch the match'''

He adds, ''They wouldn't sleep anyway because they are so tense to know if the Netherlands will win.''

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