The Netherlands crushed a weakened Russia 4-1 in Amsterdam on Wednesday as visiting coach Guus Hiddink endured another miserable day back on home soil.
Just a day after Hiddink, who took Australia to the World Cup last year, was accused of tax evasion, he then found little to cheer on the pitch as the Dutch turned on the style in this friendly international against his Russian side.
But The Netherlands had to wait until late in the match before they were sure of victory after Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfejev pulled off a string of fine saves in the opening period.
The home side took a deserved lead through Ryan Babel, who scored with a 20m drive in the 69th minute.
Wesley Sneijder, who had come on as a second-half substitute, turned the game and helped himself to the second goal of the night in the 72nd minute with a fine shot from out left.
Piotr Bistrov pulled a goal back for Russia in the 77th minute but Joris Mathijsen headed in the Dutch’s third from a corner from Sneijder in the 81st minute before a Rafael Van der Vaart penalty made it 4-1 in the 89th minute.
It was a pleasing result for Dutch coach Marco Van Basten, who was missing 10 front-rank players, including Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben.
Russia were handicapped by the fact that the long winter off-season meant that most of the squad hadn’t played since the end of November. — Sapa-AFP