FOOTBALL – THE Netherlands’ 1-0 home defeat by Algeria in their World Cup warm-up on Wednesday was a wake-up call before they head to the US for next week’s tournament start, coach Ronald Koeman said.
The North Africans snatched a late winner on the eve of the Dutch squad’s departure for New York, where they have another friendly against World Cup debutants Uzbekistan on Monday.
“I absolutely hate losing; this was a match we should have won,” a frustrated Koeman said. “We have to win these kinds of home matches; our (ranking) position demands it.”
Koeman felt the eighth-ranked Dutch dominated the opening 25 minutes against fellow World Cup qualifiers Algeria and had several good chances but then let matters slip.
“Because you don’t put the game to bed within those first 25 minutes, you end up playing against yourselves,” Koeman said. “If you get four or five clear chances, you have to score. And even if that doesn’t happen, it shouldn’t become a problem.
“But after that, we started making things more difficult for ourselves. At times we lacked aggression and were simply too nice.”
Algeria’s Feyenoord winger Anis Hadj Moussa, playing on his home ground, netted the winner four minutes from time to dampen the Dutch squad’s mood ahead of their departure.
Asked if it was better to suffer a defeat in the build-up rather than at the World Cup, Koeman replied, “No”.
“Winning always gives you a certain feeling. Losing is simply bad. We certainly don’t need to panic now, but we do need to dot the i’s and cross the t’s again. You could call it a wake-up call,” he said. The Netherlands face Japan, Sweden and Tunisia in group F at the finals.
Moussa’s effort was his first international goal and spoilt the home team’s send-off before they depart for New York on Thursday.
“This is not what you want in your farewell match,” Dutch captain Virgil van Dijk told Dutch NOS television.
“If you look at the game, we should have been at least 2–0 up. Hopefully, our sharpness will return quickly and we’ll finish our chances properly from now on. It’s positive that most of the players got some playing time, but of course we don’t play to lose,” he said.
Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane, sporting a mask after facial injuries suffered in April, made several good stops throughout the game.
&uuid=(email))