Holland give Guus Hiddink some breathing space with Spain victory
Holland beat Spain 2-0 in a friendly on Tuesday to earn embattled coach Guus Hiddink some breathing space after a poor start to his second term in charge of the Dutch national team.
Center back Stefan de Vrij and midfielder Davy Klaassen scored first-half goals for the home side in the morale-boosting victory.
Spain, thrashed 5-1 by the same nation at the World Cup when Holland were managed by Louis van Gaal, never looked like gaining revenge thanks to a combination of bad finishing and good goalkeeping by Kenneth Vermeer.
Hiddink’s second stint as the Holland coach has been disastrous so far. In seven matches ahead of Tuesday’s friendly, his team had beaten only Kazakhstan and Latvia in European qualifiers and lost to Italy, the Czech Republic, Iceland and Mexico in qualifiers and friendlies.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque, missing Chelsea striker Diego Costa, fielded an experimental side at the Amsterdam Arena, while Hiddink again had to make do without his injured stars Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben and was also missing center back Ron Vlaar.
The veteran coach made five changes to the team that needed an injury-time equalizer by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar on Saturday to salvage a 1-1 draw against Turkey that left Holland third in Euro 2016 qualifying Group A.
“We had a point to prove after the match against Turkey and we did that well,” Holland captain Wesley Sneijder said.
De Vrij gave Holland the lead in the 13th minute when he headed in a cross from Sneijder after Spain only half-cleared a corner.
Ajax midfielder Klaassen scored his first international goal to double the Dutch lead three minutes later when he slipped away from Santi Cazorla and fired a shot that David de Gea parried before Klaassen hammered in the rebound.
Vermeer preserved the Dutch lead with two good saves around the half-hour as Spain pressed forward. First the Feyenoord keeper advanced off his line to deny a rushing Gerard Piqué and two minutes later scrambled to swat away the ball after Pedro had dispossessed Bruno Martins Indi.
Willems, brought in to left back to provide more attacking options, looked vulnerable early, giving away the ball twice in dangerous positions before providing the assist for Klaassen’s goal.
“We have to learn from those mistakes where we shot ourselves in the foot,” Hiddink said.
Spain looked the more dangerous team after the break but could not convert its chances. Cesc Fàbregas and Vitolo both missed good chances before substitute David Silva finally found the net in the 70th minute only to be ruled offside.
In between, Martins Indi missed a simple chance to put the match beyond Spain’s reach when he headed a Sneijder cross into the ground and over the bar from close range.
“It’s a shame we didn’t take three points at the weekend,” Hiddink said. “But this gives the team confidence.”
Netherlands scored twice in the first 16 minutes to ease to a 2-0 friendly victory over Spain in Amsterdam.
The two sides met in the group stages in the 2014 World Cup, when Netherlands thrashed their opponents 5-1.
They also faced one another in the 2010 World Cup final, when Andres Iniesta scored Spain's winner.
But Guus Hiddink's men were on top on Tuesday, going ahead through Stefan de Vrij's header and Davy Klaassen struck a second past goalkeeper David De Gea.
The game at the World Cup in Brazil last year brought to an end Spain's dominant run in major tournaments, during which they won the 2008 and 2012 European Championships, and the 2010 World Cup.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque fielded an experimental side on Tuesday, with Malaga forward Juanmi and Sevilla midfielder Vitolo making their international debuts.
But despite experienced players such as Chelsea's Cesc Fabregas and Arsenal's Santi Cazorla in the midfield, they were unable to prevent the hosts from running away with the match in the opening stages, condemning Spain to a third consecutive friendly loss for the first time since 2001.
Netherlands defender Bruno Martins Indi should have made it 3-0 but missed a free header in the second half, with Vitolo fluffing an effort for the visitors as they tried in vain to get back into the contest.
With the top two sides from each European group qualifying for Euro 2016, Oranje are currently third in Group A, while La Roja are second in Group C.
LINEUP, BOOKINGS (0) & SUBSTITUTIONS (10)
Netherlands
- 01 Vermeer
- 02 Janmaat
- 03 de Vrij
- 04 Martins Indi
- 05 Willems
- 08 Klaassen
- 06 Blind (de Guzmán - 73' )
- 10 Sneijder (Wijnaldum - 62' )
- 07 Narsingh
- 09 Huntelaar (Dost - 79' )
- 11 Depay (Afellay - 84' )
Substitutes
- 12 Van der Wiel
- 13 Veltman
- 14 Bruma
- 15 de Jong
- 16 de Jong
- 17 Promes
- 18 Wijnaldum
- 19 Dost
- 20 de Guzmán
- 21 Afellay
- 22 Krul
- 23 Cillessen
Spain
- 13 de Gea
- 12 Carvajal
- 03 Piqué (San José - 68' )
- 02 Albiol
- 17 Bernat
- 11 Pedro (Machín Pérez - 45' )
- 10 Fàbregas
- 14 Suárez (Ramos - 68' )
- 20 Cazorla (Iniesta - 76' )
- 22 Isco (Silva - 45' )
- 09 Jiménez López (Morata - 62' )
Substitutes
- 01 Casillas
- 04 Bartra
- 05 Busquets
- 06 Iniesta
- 07 Morata
- 08 Koke
- 15 Ramos
- 16 Juanfran
- 19 Machín Pérez
- 21 Silva
- 23 Asenjo
- 24 San José
Ref: William Collum
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