Netherlands beats Turkey 1-0 in friendly

By foxsports
Published

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored in the 52nd minute Wednesday to give the Netherlands a 1-0 win over Turkey in a friendly.

Valencia midfielder Hedwiges Maduro masterminded the goal, winning the ball from left back Ismail Koybasi before sending over a cross to Huntelaar, who slid it home from close range. The goal silenced a sizable Turkish crowd, which had been throwing flares onto the pitch throughout the game.

Substitute Kazim Kazim wasted an opportunity to equalize for Turkey in the 75th when his shot hit the side netting with an open goal.

Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk said: ''We didn't do well in first half but we did well in the second.''

Turkey's Dutch coach Guus Hiddink had no complaints about his side's performance against the World Cup finalist, saying: ''I am satisfied with the way we played against the number two best team in the world. Most of our players had never played international football before today.''

Supported by a loyal fanbase surprisingly outnumbering the Dutch crowd, Turkey enjoyed a long spell of possession in the opening minutes.

But its real first chance came in the 10th minute when Nuri Sahin's through ball picked out Burak Yilmaz, whose shot from 10 yards (meters) needed a diving save from Ajax goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg.

The Netherlands immediately responded with Rafael van der Vaart's curling free kick, which flew wide after being blocked by the Turkish defence.

With both sides struggling to create any meaningful chances, Ibrahim Afellay tried his luck with a left-footed shot from the edge of the area in the 30th minute.

Wesley Sneijder almost put the Netherlands ahead with a fierce long-range free-kick which rebounded off the Turkish wall.

Yilmaz tried to break the Dutch dominance in the second half by firing a shot from 25 yards but Skekelenburg made a sharp save.

Umut Bulut had Turkey's best chance on the hour mark when his point-blank header from Sahin's free kick was saved by Stekelenburg.

Huntelaar had a chance to double the Netherlands lead in the 84th minute but his shot went wide, while Turkey substitute Engin Bayta forced a double save from Stekelenburg four minutes later.