Netherlands sink Spain to relieve pressure on under-fire Hiddink

By foxsports
Published

AMSTERDAM --

The Netherlands beat Spain 2-0 in a friendly on Tuesday to earn embattled coach Guus Hiddink some breathing space after a poor start to his second term in charge of the Dutch national team.

Center back Stefan de Vrij and midfielder Davy Klaassen scored first half goals for the Netherlands in the morale-boosting victory.

Spain, thrashed 5-1 by the Netherlands at the World Cup, never looked like gaining revenge thanks to a combination of bad finishing and good goalkeeping by Kenneth Vermeer.

Hiddink's second stint as Netherlands coach has been disastrous so far. In seven matches ahead of Tuesday's friendly, his team had beaten only Kazakhstan and Latvia in European qualifiers and lost to Italy, the Czech Republic, Iceland and Mexico in qualifiers and friendlies.

Slovakia 1, Czech Republic 0

Ondrej Duda scored after the interval to lead Slovakia to a 1-0 victory over the Czech Republic on Tuesday in a friendly between the two teams that once represented Czechoslovakia.

The 20-year-old midfielder struck with a low shot from outside the penalty area in the 49th minute for his second international goal. It was the third victory for Slovakia in the 10th match against the Czechs since Czechoslovakia's split in 1993. The Czechs won five games.

''We had more chances in the first half, we scored in the second and didn't allow the opponent anything, so I think we deserved to win,'' Slovakia coach Jan Kozak said.

Slovakia was more dangerous on a rain-soaked pitch, confirming its good run of form. The Slovaks have made a perfect start to 2016 European Championship qualifying, winning their first five matches to sit top of their group and be on course for its first Euro final tournament.

The hosts allowed the Czechs to enjoy more possession in the early stages but they were harmless in attack. A header by Slovakia's Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel flew just wide of Tomas Vaclik's goal in the 33rd minute while another defender, Peter Pekarik, beat the Czech goalkeeper a minute later but Theodor Gebre Selassie managed to block his deflected shot on the line.

Slovak goalkeeper Jan Mucha saved the only Czech scoring opportunity, substitute Ladislav Krejci's header from close range in the 65th minute.