Netherlands vs. Spain: Score, Grades and Reaction from International Friendly
The Netherlands beat Spain 2-0 on Tuesday in Amsterdam thanks to a fantastic first-half performance, taking advantage of some dreadful defending to open up an early lead.
La Roja fought back in the second half but couldn't find a goal for themselves, failing to erase the memories from the 5-1 drubbing they took at the hands of the Dutch back at the 2014 World Cup.
The Dutch have not looked like themselves under the guidance of Guus Hiddink, but their start against Spain was promising. Memphis Depay and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar combined well after just seven minutes, with the former testing David De Gea with a powerful drive.
La Roja had no answer in midfield for the hosts, who dominated possession, and before long, Oranje opened the score. Stefan De Vrij rose highest to meet a corner from Wesley Sneijder, leaving De Gea stranded. Yahoo! Soccer's Alex Baker was impressed:
Three minutes later, the Dutch had doubled their lead. Davy Klaassen was all over the pitch in the first half, and after his initial effort was saved by De Gea, he found the rebound bouncing back into his feet, giving him an easy goal.
Footballespana were shocked:
Vicente Del Bosque didn't look much better, via Bleacher Report UK:
Despite their two-goal lead, the Dutch didn't ease the pressure. Spain simply couldn't take control of the ball, and while Oranje's pace dropped tremendously, they continued playing dangerous passes in behind the Spanish defence.
La Roja had two good chances to pull one back in two minutes, but Kenneth Vermeer did well to deny Gerard Pique and Pedro.
Goal's Yves Galarcep was growing nostalgic:
Juanmi was isolated for Spain up front, but the Malaga man did strong work with his constant movement, giving the midfielders an outlet to play the ball whenever they managed to keep possession for a brief spell.
It never resulted in chances, however, and at half-time, the score was 2-0 for the hosts. BBC Sport didn't like the Spanish effort one bit:
Isco failed to impress during the first half, and he was replaced by David Silva to start the second. The introduction of the Manchester City man immediately improved Spain's midfield, which suddenly managed to keep pace with Klaassen and Company.
Silva found Juan Bernat after 51 minutes, and the full-back played a brilliant ball into the box that nearly reached both Cesc Fabregas and Juanmi. On the other side of the pitch, Bruno Martins Indi pushed his effort just over the bar.
Spain picked up the pace quite well, but chances were few. The introduction of in-form Alvaro Morata added another presence in the box, and Silva thought he had scored after great work from the Juventus man. Replays showed he was offside and handled the ball, however, and the official rightly discounted the goal, per AS English:
Author Sid Lowe was somewhat happy with what he was seeing from La Roja, to his own surprise:
Vermeer did well to get to a dangerous cross from Andres Iniesta, intervening just before Morata had the chance to get his head behind it.
Spain didn't press for a goal inside the final 10 minutes, but they found a handful of chances nonetheless. Vitolo did a great job diving behind the Dutch defence time and time again but was unlucky with his finishing, and the bulk of through balls was dealt with well by Oranje.
Georginio Wijnaldum missed the best chance of the second half, hitting the side netting from close range, before the official brought the match to an end.
This was a much-needed win for the Netherlands, who have struggled during the Euro 2016 qualifiers and needed some momentum headed into the next round of fixtures. Spain will have to take confidence from their strong second half, in which they showed they can still hang with one of the better teams in European football today.
Relevant Player Grades
Davy Klaassen: A
The Dutch metronome in the first half hardly misplaced a pass and was deservedly rewarded for his great performance with a goal. Going up against the likes of Isco and Iniesta, his confidence and poise was admirable.
Memphis Depay: B
The talented PSV youngster is a perfect replacement for the injured Arjen Robben, but you have to think he'll keep his spot in the starting XI when the Bayern Munich star eventually returns. Always lively and dangerous, Depay doesn't have to score to make an impact.
David Silva: B
For all of their issues, depth remains one of Spain's key strengths. Silva entered the match at half-time and immediately changed the complexity of La Roja, and while it didn't lead to a win, it once again underlined the quality of the City man.
Post-Match Reaction
Hiddink reserved special praise for midfielder Daley Blind, but he was quite unhappy with the crowd's reaction every time Iniesta touched the ball, per Dutch Football:
"Hiddink on Daley Blind, "He is developing into a leader. That's what I told him. He must be the captain of our midfield."
— Dutch Football (@football_oranje) March 31, 2015"
"Hiddink on crowd booing Iniesta,who scored v Oranje in 2010 WC final "He's a fantastic player and a great person.It was very inappropriate"
— Dutch Football (@football_oranje) March 31, 2015"
As shared by footballespana, Del Bosque didn't believe his team deserved to lose this match 2-0:
