Wesley Sneijder’s farewell match for Netherlands saw Memphis Depay net twice as Oranje came from behind to defeat Peru 2-1 in Amsterdam.
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Sneijder’s 134th and final cap saw him captain an Oranje side that lined up with Ryan Babel at left-wing back, while Kevin Strootman and Georginio Wijnaldum anchor a midfield behind Sneijder and Ruud Vormer.
Ronald Koeman’s tactics did not work in the first half with Peru the better side and after they forced Jasper Cillessen into a fine stop, Pedro Aquino rose above Daley Blind to head in a corner on 12 minutes.
Netherlands went looking for an equaliser before the break but the struggled to find a way past an organised Peru defence. Shots from distance from Memphis, Sneijder and Daley Blind did little, while Matthijs de Ligt headed over.
At the break, Davy Pröpper and Frenkie de Jong replaced the ineffective Strootman and Wijnaldum, but it did not have an instant impact with Peru going close three times in the opening minutes of the second half. Netherlands survived and eventually took a foothold on the game with Babel forcing Pedro Gallese into a good save before Vormer missed two great chances.
Just before the hour mark, the equaliser came with De Jong providing the assist on his debut for Memphis to net. Moments later as the hour mark came up, Sneijder was replaced by Quincy Promes and the Johan Cruyff ArenA erupted in applause for the Netherlands record cap holder.
Eight minutes from time Netherlands found the winning goal and it was again Memphis who found the net after a lucky one-two with Promes.
Koeman earns his first victory at home since taking charge of Netherlands and is unbeaten in four matches. His Oranje side must now prepare to meet France in their UEFA Nations League opener on Sunday. France drew 0-0 against Germany in the group opener.
It was good to see Wes get this farewell.
Genuine affection shown by all.
What a player he has been.
Hopefully it was a farewell a few others as well.
Strootman, what can you say.
Blind, same.
Vormer may have looked ok in recent performances but you get the feeling when they start to play well he gets found out.
Promes same, he may play well week in week out in a club set up, but don’t think he’s go whats needed – Kluivert needs to be brought through as quick as possible.
Babel same.
De Jong for me was the difference (well ok, Depay as well). Once he got into his rhythm the Oranje were a completely different side.
His movement off the ball is in a completely different class to Strootman, Propper and Wijnaldum.
Same when on it. It was stark in how he turned and got the ball forward compared to what we have seen over the last few years. Some of those passes would certainly have been side or back passes at the feet of the others.
He is the future captain of the side. To come on and want to marshall the others speaks volumes.
I even think he inspired Depay to dribble and turn for the second goal. (one part inspired one part ego from Depay)
There is definitely hope coming out of this game.
But also it was clear how outskilled they were in the first and early second half.
Will look forward to seeing how Wijnaldum plays with Frenkie, whether it makes a difference.
The Germany-France result is interesting.
They’ll both be thinking its about who scores the most goals – which could play into Dutch hands
If only Koeman would get Strootman and Blind out of that defence we may have a chance.
You are right about De Jong being superb, but the implication from your comment is that Wijnaldum is a shoe-in for the starting 11, and that certainly shouldn’t be the case. He was not as poor as Strootman, but Propper was a big improvement over him in the 2nd half. Reads the game better, makes more interceptions, makes better forward passes. Same thing happened against Portugal.
It doesn’t matter that Wijnaldum plays for a bigger club. He’s also got a LOT of better players around him at Liverpool than Propper does at Brighton.
Koeman will probably still pick Wijnaldum against France, but he’s going to get bullied off the pitch by the French midfielders.
Agree with you to a point. Wijnaldum is not going to make or break a side. He looks inept alongside Strootman yet ok alongside Milner.
So as the Oranje progress, Gini will keep up unlike someone like Vormer.
I still have that niggling hope that he will realise his potential, unleash it, which was/is never going to happen with the hapless play we’ve been witnessing for some time.
Agree on Propper, he continues to impress and coming round to him more, but would like to see Gini, Frenkie and Donny tested across the midfield vs Fra and Ger.
Blind was awful. How on earth Koeman keep him in the side for the whole match after the display he put on in the first 50 minutes is beyond me. Could have been 0-3 by then if Peru was more clinical in front of goal. And he was poor against Slovakia last June too. No reason he should be picked over De Vrij / Ake as the 3rd CB, and no reason to pick him over PVA or Vilhena for LWB.
De Jong and Propper were both big improvements over Strootman and Wijnaldum in the midfield – De Jong slotted into the side seamlessly.
Tete and Janmaat both have their strengths, but Tete should start against France – thought he was excellent defensively in this match, arguably the best plater
But the reality is that this side is limited. I don’t give this team much chance against France, as even their better midfielders will be completely bullied by Pogba, Kante, and the like.
Agree with all.
But not a big fan of Tete option.
As things stand, going forward, we have a massive advantage in having 4 world class centre backs.
Ie with the 5-3-2 we can soak up pressure (like Portugal game) or if we need to attack (ie we are behind) Koeman can easily make the substitutions to a 3-4-3 by taking out a CM and bringing in a 9 (or moving Depay there).
Would think Propper has more of a case in this thinking too, as Frenkie and him could be relied upon to hold the centre as things open up.
Tete doesn’t fit this though as you need someone who can work both ends of the R wing.
For me this system is the best for whose available and whose coming through. Koeman should stop tinkering and start getting this bedded in.