AP, Amsterdam :
The Netherlands once again proved too good for an under-par Spain as goals from Stefan de Vrij and Davy Klaasen handed the hosts a 2-0 friendly win in Amsterdam on Tuesday.
Spain were hoping to exact revenge for the 5-1 thrashing they suffered at the hands of the Dutch at last year’s World Cup, but their chances were undone by two goals in the opening 15 minutes.
De Vrij rose highest to head home Wesley Sneijder’s in-swinging cross before Klaasen was given an alarming amount of space inside the box to fire home on the rebound after David de Gea had saved his initial effort.
Defeat means the European champions have now lost friendlies against three continental heavyweights France, Germany and the Dutch since being dumped out in embarrassing fashion after just two games at the World Cup.
“It seems impossible that we haven’t scored,” said Spain boss Vicente del Bosque.
“We paid for the first 20 minutes. We dominated the game, were on top of them and had a lot of chances, the only thing we lacked was a goal.”
His Dutch counterpart Guus Hiddink said it was a good result but denied that it had been a crucial one for him even though it was only his third win in eight games since taking over after last year’s World Cup finals.
“This result will boost the confidence of the team,” said the 68-year-old, who is in his second spell with the national side.
“Is it a relief to me personally? No because I didn’t have the impression I had a weight bearing down on me.
“I have been criticised but journalists have a habit of being scathing. We just get on with our work and everyone is pulling in the same direction.”
Del Bosque made nine changes to the side that sneaked past Ukraine 1-0 in a Euro 2016 qualifier on Friday, whilst Hiddink made just five alterations from his side’s 1-1 draw with Turkey.
The extra strength in the Dutch side paid dividends in a flying start as De Vrij, who also scored in the 5-1 thrashing in Salvador 10 months ago, opened the scoring with a superb header from Sneijder’s dangerous cross.
