. Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben scored a brace as the Dutch managed to get a 3-2 win over a Welsh side playing without talisman Gareth Bale.
The Netherlands came out on top in their encounter against a Wales team ranked just above them at 15th place in the FIFA world rankings. This is a bit of good news for a Dutch side that failed to qualify for Euro 2016, falling behind the likes of Iceland, Czech Republic and Turkey in their qualification group.
A much needed win
Wolfsburg striker Bas Dost opened the scoring for the Oranje, while Robben netted a brace as Wales equalised twice, but found themselves unable to answer Robben’s second and the Netherlands’ third goal of the match.
“You can always make comments and name things that are not going well,” Robben told SBS6, according to Soccerway.com
“In the first half we had control and we played well, but we have to be even sharpe, and have a winning mentality. We still conceded two goals [tonight], that cannot happen at this level.
“We have started again today with a bit of the old system. We have to work on that, but I have a good feeling about the future.”
The Road To Recovery
The Netherlands are still depending on their aging players like Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder to hold the team together while future prospects are difficult to find. The side that came third in the 2014 FIFA World Cup has not even qualified for the next major tournament, Euro 2016, which speaks volumes about the decline in quality of the Dutch side.
It is up to bright young prospects like Memphis Depay and Jordy Clasie, both playing in Premier League clubs, to help the Dutch team through this transition, as their best players — Robben, Sneijder, Huntelaar, Van Persie and De Jong — will most likely retire from the team soon due to their increasing age.