Holland too strong for insipid Spain
Amsterdam, April 1: The Netherlands proved too good for an under- par Spain as goals from Stefan de Vrij and Davy Kl a a s e n ha n d e d the hosts a 2- 0 friendly win in here on Tuesday. 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.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque made nine changes to the side that sneaked past Ukraine 1- 0 in a Euro 2016 qualifier on Friday, whilst his Dutch counterpart Guus Hiddink made just five alterations from his side’s 1- 1 draw with Turkey. In Turin, England winger Andros Townsend came off the bench to steal a late equaliser in a 1- 1 draw against Italy.
England manager Roy Hodgson was forced to hand Spurs sensation Harry Kane his full debut alongside Wayne Rooney due to injuries to both Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck. But while the 21year- old Kane failed to shine, Townsend made the most of his 20- minute appearance beating Gianluigi Buffon with a fine strike 11 minutes from full time to level Graziano Pelle’s 29th minute opener.
Italy coach Antonio Conte admitted that his team remain a work in progress.
“Today it was prestigious friendly against a side with some top players, but we competed well and I’m happy with our performance,” said Conte.
“Ultimately it was a fair result, because we struggled a little more in the second half. Meanwhile, Cape Verde created a spalsh when they upset hosts Portugal 2- 0 in Estoril. Portugal lacked many stars, including Cristiano Ronaldo, having won 2- 1 at home against Serbia just 48 hours earlier in a Euro 2016 qualifier.
The Blue Sharks scored twice within six minutes close to half- time for a rare away victory over European opposition.
An Odair Fortes cross found the net on 38 minutes and Gege tapped the ball over the goal line at the far post to double the lead to seal a win over a side that had four players making their debuts.
Former Portuguese colony Cape Verde compris- At Abu Dhabi: Iraq 1 ( Kasim 59) Democratic Republic of Congo 0 At Amsterdam, Netherlands: Netherlands 2 ( De Vrij 13, Klaassen 16) Spain 0 At Lviv: Ukraine 1 ( Yarmolenko 35) Latvia 1 ( Maksimenko 90+ 1) At Moscow: Russia 0 Kazakhstan 0 At Paris: Ghana 1 ( Badu 53) Mali 1 ( Sako 71- pen) At Solna, Sweden: Sweden 3 ( Ibrahimovic 11, Berg 22, Toivonen 89) Iran 1 ( Nekounam 24- pen) At Turin, Italy: Italy 1 ( Pelle 29) England 1 ( Townsend 79) At Zilina: Slovakia 1 ( Duda 49) Czech Republic 0 At Vienna: Austria 1 ( Janko 34) BosniaHerzegovina 1 ( Hajrovic 48) At Zurich, Switzerland: Switzerland 1 ( Stocker 80) USA 1 ( Shea 45) es a string of islands off the coast of Senegal and has just 500,000 inhabitants.
Also on Tuesday, Valentin Stocker’s goal 10 minutes from time secured Switzerland a 1- 1 draw with the United States in Zurich.
The United States went down to 10 players when striker Jozy Altidore was sent off in the 68th minute. The visitors were deservedly ahead by that stage as Brek Shea’s splendid freekick just before the halftime whistle had given them the lead. Stocker spared the hosts their blushes 10 minutes from time, converting a corner from close range.