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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Holland v Spain: international friendly – live! | Holland v Spain: international friendly – live! |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 7.59pm BST19:59 | |
| 12 min: Pique concedes another corner but the delivery is, once again, poor. | |
| 7.57pm BST19:57 | |
| 10 min: Holland stroke it around at a leisurely pace but Spain remain compact and after 30 or so passes Mario Suarez intercepts. | |
| 7.55pm BST19:55 | |
| 7 min: Depay dazzles the Spain defence with a couple of step-overs before playing a sweet one-two with Huntelaar. When he receives it back, 25 yards from goal, the next great Dutch hope, fizzes a shot that De Gea saves with some ease. | |
| 7.52pm BST19:52 | |
| 5 min: That is taken short before being worked into the box by Carvajal. Raul Albiol heads towards goal but misses the target by some way. | |
| 7.51pm BST19:51 | |
| 4 min: Isco is played through by Juanmi but the former is marginally offside as Vermeer emerges to smother the ball. From that the Holland free-kick is intercepted and Juanmi wins a corner. | |
| 7.49pm BST19:49 | |
| 2 min: Early corner for the hosts as Pique heads a cross towards Huntelaar away from danger. The delivery is easily dealt with by Isco at the front post. | |
| 7.48pm BST19:48 | |
| Peep! | |
| 1 min: We are underway with both teams in their away kits. This makes me deeply unhappy. Holland, playing from left to right as we watch it, are in white shirts and socks with orange shorts; Spain are in black with neon yellow trim. | |
| 7.45pm BST19:45 | |
| “In reply to Charles Antaki David Villa says hi,” writes Anna Pons. | |
| 7.42pm BST19:42 | |
| It’s time for the anthems! | |
| 7.36pm BST19:36 | |
| Your* pre-match email | |
| s | |
| Spain have notoriously lacked a proper centre-forward since the glory days of Raúl - recent damp squibs Llorente and Torres are (very) pale imitations. Hence the need for the emergency nationalisation of Diego Costa. And he’s mostly injured. So step forward Juanmí, presumably on the basis that he can’t be any worse than Morata (who did actually score against Ukraine, though), and that he appears to be physically fit. | |
| *Charles Antaki’s | |
| 7.08pm BST19:08 | 7.08pm BST19:08 |
| The teams | The teams |
| Holland: Vermeer; Janmaat, De Vrij, Martins Indi, Willems; Narsingh, Blind, Klaassen, Sneijder; Huntelaar, Depay. | Holland: Vermeer; Janmaat, De Vrij, Martins Indi, Willems; Narsingh, Blind, Klaassen, Sneijder; Huntelaar, Depay. |
| Spain: De Gea; Carvajal, Albiol, Piqué, Bernat: Fàbregas, Mario Suárez, Cazorla; Pedro, Juanmi, Isco. | Spain: De Gea; Carvajal, Albiol, Piqué, Bernat: Fàbregas, Mario Suárez, Cazorla; Pedro, Juanmi, Isco. |
| 6.49pm BST18:49 | 6.49pm BST18:49 |
| It is never too easy to get excited by friendlies, particularly during these international weeks of football™, but among the likes of Liechtenstein v San Marino, Russia v Kazakhstan, Portugal v Cape Verde and, er, Italy v England a rare gem sporadically pops up. Holland v Spain. A repeat of last year’s amazing World Cup group game. A repeat of the 2010 World Cup final. | It is never too easy to get excited by friendlies, particularly during these international weeks of football™, but among the likes of Liechtenstein v San Marino, Russia v Kazakhstan, Portugal v Cape Verde and, er, Italy v England a rare gem sporadically pops up. Holland v Spain. A repeat of last year’s amazing World Cup group game. A repeat of the 2010 World Cup final. |
| These are oddly worrying times for both sides. And there is plenty of pressure on both managers, Guus Hiddink and Vicente del Bosque, after less than impressive starts to their respective Euro 2016 qualification campaigns. | These are oddly worrying times for both sides. And there is plenty of pressure on both managers, Guus Hiddink and Vicente del Bosque, after less than impressive starts to their respective Euro 2016 qualification campaigns. |
| Johan Cryuff, never afraid to air a grievance or eight, was scathing in his De Telegraaf column after Holland’s 1-1 draw with Turkey. Klaaas-Jan Huntelaar scored in the final moments to earn a point that leaves them third in Group A, six points behind Czech Republic with seven points from five games. | Johan Cryuff, never afraid to air a grievance or eight, was scathing in his De Telegraaf column after Holland’s 1-1 draw with Turkey. Klaaas-Jan Huntelaar scored in the final moments to earn a point that leaves them third in Group A, six points behind Czech Republic with seven points from five games. |
| “The defenders were only passing the ball to the midfielders and they then passed it back to the defenders. The people with little creativity were dictating play. This is not what you want. The problems only got bigger. | “The defenders were only passing the ball to the midfielders and they then passed it back to the defenders. The people with little creativity were dictating play. This is not what you want. The problems only got bigger. |
| “After the level of the Eredivisie and the performances of the Dutch teams in the Champions League and Europa League, it is now clear where the national team stands as well. We are suffering all over the place and I really wonder when we will finally wake up. | “After the level of the Eredivisie and the performances of the Dutch teams in the Champions League and Europa League, it is now clear where the national team stands as well. We are suffering all over the place and I really wonder when we will finally wake up. |
| “The main problem in Netherlands is education, the coaches and the education of the coaches. One thing is certain and that is that things need to change. Netherlands were a disgrace against Turkey.” | “The main problem in Netherlands is education, the coaches and the education of the coaches. One thing is certain and that is that things need to change. Netherlands were a disgrace against Turkey.” |
| Spain, meanwhile, are three points behind Slovakia in Group C, having lost in Zilina earlier in the campaign. They could only scrape past Ukraine at home on Friday night, winning 1-0. Del Bosque is certainly feeling the squeeze. “Before, the criticism was always favourable, and now there is a lot of emphasis on the negative,” he said before tonight’s game in Amsterdam. “We have a very mature and fixed national team but we shouldn’t be satisfied with what has already been achieved. We have to be rebels as well.” | Spain, meanwhile, are three points behind Slovakia in Group C, having lost in Zilina earlier in the campaign. They could only scrape past Ukraine at home on Friday night, winning 1-0. Del Bosque is certainly feeling the squeeze. “Before, the criticism was always favourable, and now there is a lot of emphasis on the negative,” he said before tonight’s game in Amsterdam. “We have a very mature and fixed national team but we shouldn’t be satisfied with what has already been achieved. We have to be rebels as well.” |
| Team news to follow shortly. Kick-off is 8.45pm in Amsterdam, 7.45pm in London. Stay tuned to see if Holland wake up and if Spain can be rebels. | Team news to follow shortly. Kick-off is 8.45pm in Amsterdam, 7.45pm in London. Stay tuned to see if Holland wake up and if Spain can be rebels. |