Oranje lose first match under Guus Hiddink
Guus Hiddink’s return as Dutch national football coach got off to a poor start on Thursday with Oranje losing 2-0 to Italy in a friendly in Bari.
The Dutch, who came third in the recent World Cup in Brazil, were 2-0 down after ten minutes and played most of the match with 10 men after Bruno Martins Indi was sent off for a bad tackle on Simone Zaza.
Oranje were missing a number of key players, including Arjen Robben, but debate has already started in the Dutch press about Hiddink’s tactics compared with those of Louis van Gaal.
The Netherlands play the Czech Republic on Tuesday in their first European championship qualifying match.
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