Having failed to qualify for this summer's European Championship, Danny Blind's side showed fight but ultimately came up short against a strong France team
On an evening that was primarily about the past of Dutch football following the death of Johan Cruyff on Thursday, a good deal was learned about the immediate future of the Netherlands national team.
And as the No.14 was celebrated by all in attendance, it seemed appropriate that a player wearing that illustrious shirt grabbed the evening’s winning goal. For the home supporters, however, it was less fitting that man was France captain Blaise Matuidi.
Cruyff, though, would probably not have begrudged the visiting side victory. They were the superior side on a technical level and played the better football, and for a man who so famously scorned the Oranje side that reached the 2010 World Cup final as being “vulgar” and “hermetic”, he would have seen justice in the outcome.
Nevertheless, the great playmaker would have taken some satisfaction in the way Netherlands responded to adversity. In the formative stages of the match, Danny Blind’s men threatened to be blown away as Antoine Griezmann’s fizzing free kick was added to by Olivier Giroud, who took advantage of poor defending from a corner.
The French trotted back to the centre circle sheepishly after their second, applauding apologetically as the clock reached the 14th minute and the crowd rose to pay tribute to a man idolised like no other in the history of Dutch football. At that point, his side were doing him a disservice.
Netherlands were lucky to reach the break only a couple down but rallied impressively in the second half. Memphis Depay’s entrance made an impact, with his set-piece delivery setting up goals for Luuk de Jong and them Ibrahim Afellay. France, though, seemed to have been playing in second gear for much of the half and when roused had the resources to snatch a late winner through Matuidi.
Despite their revival, the scoreline flattered the home side, who have been in a state of decline for years now. Louis van Gaal might have led them to the World Cup semi-finals of 2014, but he did so against a background of negativity, and their third-placed finish defied pre-tournament predictions that they would be flops.
Then came the embarrassing failure to reach Euro 2016, with Guus Hiddink and then Blind overseeing a fourth-place finish in their group behind the Czech Republic, Iceland and Turkey.
An immediate renaissance under Blind seems a long way off.
In little over six months’ time they will again play host to France, though the stakes will be higher in a World Cup qualifying match. Before then there is a trip to Sweden and a home fixture against Belarus to negotiate. These are the matches at the forefront of Blind’s thinking.
France, who have the rather more immediate task of living up to a billing as one of the favourites at their home Euro 2016 tournament, will not lose too much sleep thinking about their rematch in the autumn. They may be under new management by the time that fixture arrives – Didier Deschamps has hinted he could leave his post after the Euros – but the coach would surely not have traded a single member of his starting XI for his equivalent in the Dutch camp.
The visiting boss was even in a rather experimental mode, deploying Dimitri Payet successfully for his first cap in nine months and handing N'Golo Kante an understated debut from the bench.
Of course, this is a young Netherlands side and one that will surely improve, but they do not possess either the strength or depth that the French have at their command.
In World Cup qualifying, the future will surely not be Oranje, but for one night as Amsterdam paid tribute to its greatest football son, that did not matter.
- Goal