The United States lost 2-1 to Holland on Wednesday on a tough night at Amsterdam ArenA. Dirk Kuyt put Holland up from the penalty spot in the 40th and the United States was lucky not to have been called for a handball in the box just before halftime. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar had his shot deflected to make it 2-0 in the 73rd. The United States finally got on the board when DaMarcus Beasley found Carlos Bocanegra with a freekick in the 88th.
“You know going in it is going to be a game where teams press each other hard,” US coach Bob Bradley said. “They do a very good job of, when the ball turns over, getting after you very fast. It produces a fast game. As far as our understanding of the game and our collective effort, we were pretty solid and didn't give much away. We lost our concentration and it was a very bad time to give up a penalty. In moments where we'd created a little advantage I don't think we were sharp enough or confident enough. But as the game wore on we saw a little more of that and hopefully it will carry over.”
Bradley had to reconfigure early after Stuart Holden had to leave the game with an injured shin in the 34th-minute. DaMarcus Beasley came on in his place. IT would be Beasley generating several dangerous chances – including the assist on the USA’s only goal – late in the game.
“It’s always disappointing to lose a game,” Beasley said “But at the same time we can take the good and the bad from this game and move on to the next one.”
— GAME REPORT —
Match: U.S. vs. Netherlands
Date: March 3, 2010
Competition: International Friendly
Venue: Amsterdam ArenA; Amsterdam, Netherlands
Kickoff: 8:45 p.m. local/2:45 p.m. ET
Attendance: 46,630
Weather: 40 degrees
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 0 1 1
NED 1 1 2
NED – Dirk Kuyt (penalty kick) 40th minute
NED – Klass jan Huntelaar (Rafael van der Vaart) 73
USA – Carlos Bocanegra (DaMarcus Beasley) 88
Lineups:
USA: 1-Tim Howard; 2-Jonathan Spector, 15-Jay DeMerit (11-Heath Pearce, 70), 3-Carlos Bocanegra (capt.), 13-Jonathan Bornstein (21-Clarence Goodson, 86); 22-Stuart Holden (7-DaMarcus Beasley, 34), 14-José Torres (16-Maurice Edu, 46), 4-Michael Bradley, 10-Landon Donovan (9-Eddie Johnson, 76); 12-Jozy Altidore, 19-Robbie Findley (17-Alejandro Bedoya, 63)
Subs not used: 18-Brad Guzan
Head Coach: Bob Bradley
NED: 1-Maarten Stekelenburg; 2-Gregory van der Wiel, 3-John Heitinga, 4-Joris Mathijsen (20-Ron Vlaar, 46), 5-Giovanni van Bronckhorst (capt.) (15-Edson Braafheid, 67); 7-Arjen Robben (19-Klaas jan Huntelaar, 46), 8-Nigel de Jong (23-Rafael van der Vaart, 60), 10-Wesley Sneijder, 6-Mark van Bommel (17-Ibrahim Afellay, 74); 11-Eljero Elia, 9-Dirk Kuyt (21-Ryan Babel, 81)
Subs not used: 12-Andre Ooijer, 13-Piet Velthuizen, 14-Demy de Zeeuw, 16-Sander Boshker, 18-Orlando Engelaar, 22-Stijn Schaars
Head Coach: Bert van Marwijk
Stats Summary: USA / NED
Shots: 8 / 10
Shots on Goal: 3 / 6
Saves: 4 / 2
Corner Kicks: 4 / 3
Fouls: 17 / 17
Offside: 1 / 4
Misconduct Summary:
NED – Nigel de Jong (caution) 31st minute
USA – José Torres (caution) 31
NED – Edson Braafheid (caution) 90
Officials:
Referee: Cüneyt Cakir (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Tank Ongun (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Bahattin Duran (TUR)
Fourth Official: Serdar Gozübüyük (NED)
