Netherlands vs. Spain 2015: Final score 2-0, La Roja seeing orange

A roaring start saw the Netherlands overpower a shocked Spain side, racing out to an early 2-0 lead that they held through heaping mounds of Spanish pressure, earning a big and valuable win against a tough opponent even if it was just a friendly.

The Netherlands came out swinging hard and fast, and it seemed to catch Spain completely off guard. They pressed high and hard, penetrating aggressively in to the final third of the pitch and frequently overwhelming Spain’s back line. Gerard Pique and Raul Albiol seemed to have issues organizing and getting on the same page in the middle of La Roja’s defense, and that cost Spain dearly early on.

The warning signs were there: Memphis Depay getting space to try dangerous snap-shots from range, Davy Klaassen overrunning Mario Suarez and running free in space between the lines, Wesley Sneijder floating around practically unmarked off the ball. Spain didn’t listen to the warning sirens going off, though, and they paid for it when Sneijder found himself in acres of space out on the flank after a set piece was poorly cleared, sending in a bullet cross that Albiol could only watch whiz by as Stefan de Vrij rose up to flick it in past David de Gea.

Just three minutes later, it all fell apart for Spain again. A mad scramble in the box ended with Albiol falling in the box and Klaassen ran by him and got on to the rebound of his own shot to hammer home a second for Holland. Klaassen had just kind of drifted in toward the 6-yard box behind the action while seemingly the entire Spain defense was ball-watching, and by the time the ball came in to him it was too late for anyone to do a thing about it.

Spain seemed to wake up a bit after that and pulled themselves together, firming up their defense and slowly holding possession better than in the opening 15 minutes. They still struggled to actually get forward dangerously, though, as Holland’s swarming midfield and fullbacks continuously disrupted Spain’s buildup play. Both sides had a few more half-chances in the first half, but headed to the break with the score still at 2-0.

The second half started with Spain the brighter thanks to a pair of smart substitutions from Vicente del Bosque, bringing on the creativity of David Silva and the energy of Vitolo for the ineffective wide pair of Pedro and Isco. Spain rode those subs to some positive early play, causing problems for Holland -- until Memphis Depay took over.

The 21-year-old Dutchman has been drawing much attention in the rest of Europe for the ludicrous amounts of skill he’s been showing the last 18 months, and this match showed that the attention is well earned. With Holland faltering in the second half, Depay was suddenly everywhere, buzzing back in defense to help win balls back, and sprinting forward in attack to panic the Spain defense and create opportunities for his teammates to exploit. He was very impressive both on and off the ball all day, but that spell of a few minutes that saw Depay completely dictate the match was vital, giving his teammates a much needed chance to take a breath and regroup.

Despite that, a free kick for Spain at the hour mark almost undid all that reorganization, with Gerard Pique driving a shot just past the wall and at goal. Dutch goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer misread the shot at first, diving to his right when it was slightly to his left, but was able to get his legs on the ball and kill its momentum, giving him the chance to get around and smother the ball before it could cross the goal line. It was an impressive, instinctual recover that not all goalkeepers can make, and kept the Netherlands well on top in the match.

Not long after, Spain thought they had finally found their opening goal when Silva slipped through the Dutch defense and slotted home, but their celebrations were cut short by the assistant referee on that side raising his flag to show offside. Silva and his teammates insisted there was no way the Manchester City attacker was off, but replays showed that he had indeed drifted just off when the ball was played in to him. It was a close call, but appeared to be the correct one.

The Netherlands had the better of some of the late chances, including a Bruno Martins Indi header that wound up just over the bar, and a gorgeous scoring chance from Georginio Wijnaldum set up brilliantly by Depay that sizzled just wide of the near post. Spain started breaking forward more aggressively in the dying minutes of the match, but couldn’t get through an incredibly determined Dutch defense.

The win is an important one for the Netherlands, The Dutchmen have been in shaky form since the World Cup, but impressed in a big way against a very talented Spanish side. Spain haven’t exactly seen smooth sailing themselves in the last eight months or so, but the way that the Netherlands took the match to them early and then held them at bay late says a lot for the progress that Guus Hiddinik has made. The Netherlands are good, and they’re on their way back.

Goals: de Vrij (13’), Klaassen (16’)

Goals: None.