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Hiddink furious, Conte glad after contrasting ties
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AN angry Guus Hiddink said the Dutch need to learn a lesson from the last-minute loss to the Czech Republic in their opening Euro 2016 qualifier during which the coach surprisingly stuck to a formation unpopular with his team.
The Czech Republic snatched a dramatic 2-1 win over the Netherlands thanks to Vaclav Pilar’s added-time goal after a dreadful mistake from Daryl Janmaat in their opening Group A match in Prague on Tuesday.
“In the final seconds of a match you should never ever lose,” Hiddink said, referring to Janmaat’s header back to Jasper Cillessen that beat the Dutch custodian and rebounded off the post to Pilar who tucked the rebound into the net.
“We were able to just walk out of here with a 1-1 draw. We gave it away so stupidly. When I talk about it now I get extremely angry again.”
In his second stint as Dutch coach, Hiddink elected to start with a more defensive system favored by his predecessor Louis van Gaal who guided the Netherlands to a third-place finish at the World Cup in Brazil.
The 3-5-2 system was ineffective, however, as the Czechs soaked up Dutch pressure and attacked on the break. The strategy paid off in the 22nd minute when Borek Dockal one-timed a thunderous left-footed shot from just outside the box into the net to give the host a lead.
Hiddink blamed individual mistakes rather than the formation but it was clear the Dutch side were transformed after making changes five minutes before the half and notching the equalizer in the 55th on a Stefan de Vrij header.
Hiddink, the first Dutch national manager to lose his first two games since his previous reign in 1995, had to do without a number of key players, including Arjen Robben.
Italy’s new coach Antonio Conte could not be happier with the ways things have gone in his first two games in charge.
Conte’s first two games have produced two wins, both with convincing performances, and suggested that Italy does have some good young players after all.
Debutante forward Simone Zaza, who started the year on the bench at relegation-threatened Sassuolo, has been the pick of the crop.
He won a penalty in last Thursday’s 2-0 friendly win over the Dutch and scored in Tuesday’s 2-0 victory away to Norway in a Group H Euro qualifier.
Elsewhere, it was: Iceland 3, Turkey 0; Kazakhstan 0, Latvia 0; Andorra 1, Wales 2; Bosnia 1, Cyprus 2; Azerbaijan 1, Bulgaria 2; and Croatia 2, Malta 0.
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