Amsterdam, June 6 (IANS) The Netherlands have suffered their first ever defeat against the United States, with the visitors winning 4-3 after two late goals in an international football friendly here.
The first major chances in the first half were for the visitors with captain Michael Bradley hitting the post and Fabian Johnson doing the same in the rebound on Friday. Brek Shea missed another opportunity by the Americans. The attempt by the leftback was saved by Dutch goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen, reports Xinhua.
After Klaas-Jan Huntelaar first missed a chance the Dutch striker found the net in the 27th minute. He headed in a cross by Memphis Depay to put the home-team in front. Six minutes later Gyasi Zardes scored for the US (1-1). He was quicker than Daryl Janmaat at the second post.
Georginio Wijnaldum seemed to have put the Netherlands in front again on the stroke of half-time, but his goal was disallowed for a foul by Depay. The halftime score therefor was 1-1 after an entertaining first half.
While the first half was in balance, the Dutch started the second half as the better team. Huntelaar added his second goal in the 49th minute by heading in a cross by substitute Gregory van der Wiel. With his 41th goal for the Netherlands he passed Patrick Kluivert on the alltime topscorers list of the Dutch national team, eight shy of record holder Robin van Persie, who didn’t score in Amsterdam.
Six minutes later Huntelaar was close to his 42nd goal for the Dutch, but since his shot was deflected by Memphis Depay the goal was given to the latter. John Brooks, who also had a goal disallowed for a foul, declined the margin to one goal again by scoring in the 70th minute. The U.S. defender beat Huntelaar, started the attack himself and was free to tip in the cross DeAndre Yedlin by the end of the attack.
Dutch substitute Luuk de Jong had a major chance in the final phase of the match, but he was not able to score and afterwards American defender Fabian Johnson hit his own post via De Jong.
After a shot by Daniel Williams, which was deflected by Luuk de Jong, the Americans equalized in the 89th minute and in injury time the team of coach Jurgen Klinsmann even scored the winning goal. In five meetings with the Dutch the U.S. booked their first ever victory after four defeats in a row.
After this blow the Netherlands will have to prepare for their June 12 Euro 2012 qualifier at Latvia in Riga. The Dutch are in third place in their group and would have to play playoffs if the qualification cycle.
The United States are preparing for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, which starts July 7 and will be hosted chiefly by the US (also one Canadian venue). The Americans will now move to Cologne for a friendly against world champions Germany on June 10.