Netherlands’ midfielder Arjen Robben (R) slots the ball past Wales’ goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams to score Netherlands’ third goal during the international friendly match at Cardiff City Stadium in south Wales. (AFP)


Reuters/Cardiff


Netherlands enjoyed a 3-2 friendly win away to a weakened Wales on Friday with Arjen Robben proving the match-winner with two goals from his lethal left foot as they put their failure to reach Euro 2016 to one side.
Robben twice re-established the visitors’ lead in the second half, after a battling Wales—who have reached their first major tournament since 1958 with a place in France—had manfully stayed in the encounter despite being outplayed.
Bas Dost headed the Dutch in front after 32 minutes before Joe Ledley equalised and Wales’s Emyr Huws then pulled the hosts level again after Robben had danced into the area to score.
Robben then struck the winner in the 81st minute after racing clear to slot calmly into the net. The Netherlands came into the game still reeling from missing out on next year’s European Championship having finished fourth in Group A with four wins from 10 games.
The contrast in mood with Friday’s opponents could not have been starker as Wales celebrated their achievement in qualifying for the finals before an enthusiastic Cardiff crowd.
Netherlands coach Danny Blind voiced hope that forthcoming games against Germany, on Tuesday, and France and England will keep his players focused in the 10 months leading up to the start of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
“That’s a hard job,” he told reporters at Cardiff City Stadium. “But you saw the team tonight (Friday). They were focused and they put a lot of energy in the game. I hope we can continue that and I think (we can).
“Because we play in Germany on Tuesday, we play France and England in March, so big countries. I hope the motivation will be there.
“Otherwise I have to speak with them and comfort them that we’re not going to play in France, so we need those games to prepare for the first game in qualifying for Russia against Sweden in September.”
The home fervour was dampened, however, after 32 minutes when Daryl Janmaat lofted a cross to the far post and the towering VfL Wolfsburg striker Dost rose high to direct a downward header past Wales keeper Wayne Hennessey.
 
ATTACKING FIREPOWER
At that point it looked like it could be a long evening for Wales, deprived of star turns Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, as the Dutch piled forward with plenty of attacking firepower.
Hennessey was forced to turn a shot from Quincy Promes over the bar as the Netherlands turned the screw, until Wales were handed a route back into the match with a penalty when Terence Kongolo was penalised for handball in first-half stoppage time.
Joe Allen’s spot kick was parried but Ledley followed up to steer the rebound into the far corner.
The Dutch were back in front within 10 minutes of the restart, however, as Robben produced his trademark finish, dashing up the right flank before cutting on to his favoured left foot and curling the ball powerfully into the net.
Huws typified the battling spirit Wales showed in their Euro qualifying campaign to grab another equaliser after 70 minutes, directing a header past keeper Jasper Cillessen.
Robben, however, had the final word when he ran through a static Welsh defence to finish low past Hennessey.

Van Dijk and Bazoer pull out of squad for German friendly
Virgil van Dijk and Riechedly Bazoer have withdrawn from the Netherlands squad for Tuesday’s friendly against Germany in Hanover because of injuries, the Dutch football association KNVB said yesterday.
KNVB said defender Van Dijk has a “knee complaint”, while midfielder Bazoer suffered a hamstring strain during Friday’s 3-2 win over Wales in Cardiff.
Captain Arjen Robben will also not play after an agreement with his club Bayern Munich that he would sit out Tuesday’s game.
The Dutch will travel to Hanover with 20 players, if the international goes ahead following Friday’s terror attacks in Paris, where Germany where playing France in an another Euro-2016 warm-up.
The KNVB confirmed on Saturday its director Bert van Oostveen was in discussion with German colleagues over the match.
Earlier, German Football association president Reinhard Rauball said a final decision on the game against the Dutch in Hanover would be taken today.
“We will now sleep over it and then see how we will approach things for Tuesday,” Rauball told reporters after the German team’s arrival in Frankfurt on Saturday.
“But my opinion is that we should not yield to terror.”
The German team and staff remained inside the Stade de France for the entire night before heading straight to the airport after hearing about the attacks.