Netherlands final match of 2017 sees them travel to Romania on Tuesday for a friendly match in Bucharest.
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The tie at the Arena Naţională is set to be Dick Advocaat’s final game in charge of the national team with the Little General’s current contract ending at the end of the month. The 70-year-old has been coy about his future, but he told the Scottish Press last week that the Romania game would be his last.
Before the search for a new coach begins, Advocaat will be hoping to end his third reign on a high and get a victory over Romania which will boost the ranking points. He will also be keen to see an improved performance after the drab 1-0 victory over Scotland, which saw Oranje struggle throughout the game but triumph because of a Memphis Depay goal in the first half.
Romania, like Netherlands, will not be at the World Cup next summer after finishing fourth in their qualifying group, behind Montenegro, Denmark and Poland. However, at home they are a strong side and recently beat both Chile and Turkey in friendly matches. Romania are unbeaten in their last five internationals in their own country.
Team News
Karim Rekik has been forced to pull out of the squad after picking up a knock, but Davy Propper is fit again after missing the game against Scotland and is set to replace Georginio Wijnaldum.
Jeroen Zoet has a slight injury meaning Jasper Cillessen will continue in goal while Matthijs de Ligt, Joel Veltman and Steven Berghuis are expected to come into the starting eleven.
Probable Netherlands XI: Cillessen; Veltman, De Ligt, Van Dijk, Aké; Pröpper, Blind, Strootman; Berghuis, Babel, Depay
Most of the Romanian squad play their football in their home country, but Napoli’s Vlad Chiriches, Anderlecht’s Nicolae Stanciu and Deportivo La Coruna striker Florin Andone could all feature.
Possible Romania XI: Pantilimon, Sapunaru, Tosca, Chiriches, Grigore, Pintilli, Stanciu, Deac, Grozav, Budescu, Keseru
Head to Head
Netherlands have only ever lost once to Romania in their 12 previous meetings with Oranje winning eight of those matches.
The last meetings came during the qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup with Netherlands winning 4-1 in Romania and 4-0 at home.
Odds
Romania 23/10 Draw 12/5 Netherlands 23/20
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