Netherlands: Vermeer; Janmaat, De Vrij, Martins Indi, Willems; Klaassen, Blind (Jonathan De Guzmán 72’), Sneijder (Wijnaldum 61‘); Narsingh, Huntelaar (Dost 78’), Depay (Afellay 83‘). 4-3-3.
Spain: De Gea; Dani Carvajal, Raúl Albiol, Piqué (Sergio Ramos 67‘), Bernat: Cazorla (Iniesta 75‘), Mario Suárez (San José 67‘), Fábregas, Isco (David Silva 46’); Pedro (Vitolo 46’), Juanmi (Morata 61‘). 4-4-2.
Goals:
1-0. 13. De Vrij. Steered header wide of De Gea from Sneijder’s cross.
2-0. 16. Klaassen. Beat keeper at second attempt after first shot saved.
Another disappointing night for Spain, Del Bosque’s side falling to a 2-0 defeat against Netherlands in their latest friendly match. The coach made nine changes to the line-up he put out against Ukraine four days ago, with only Piqué and Isco starting both games. That was probably too much though against the team who humiliated them in last summer’s World Cup, and within sixteen minutes they found themselves two goals down, De Vrij heading the first of those from Sneijder’s cross after a corner came back out to the ex Real Madrid midfielder. Depay had already tested De Gea before that, and with the defence in disarray Klaassen made it two, beating the keeper at the second attempt after Depay and Willems combined to set him up. Juanmi was making his international debut up front, and he and Pedro did cause a few problems for Vermeer and his back four before the break. But Martins Indi bounced a header over the bar with the goal at his mercy soon after the restart, and De Gea had to be at his best to keep out Depay a few minutes later. Vermeer had to save from a low Piqué free kick after that, new boy Vitolo fired a shot just wide of the post, and Silva got the ball in the net only to be pulled up for offside, but for the third friendly game in a row Spain had lost without scoring a single goal, and Del Bosque is running out of time in his quest to restore “la selección” to their former glory.