Koeman terms Netherlands' loss to Algeria pre-World Cup wake-up call

The Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman has said that his team’s 1-0 home defeat by Algeria in their World Cup warm-up on Wednesday was a wake-up call for them before the start of the mega event next week in the US, Mexico and Canada.

North Africans won the match through a late winner on the eve of the Dutch squad’s departure for New York, where they will play World Cup debutants Uzbekistan in another friendly on Monday.

"I absolutely hate losing; this was a match we should have won,” a frustrated Koeman said. "We have to win these kinds of home matches; our (ranking) position demands it.”

Koeman said the eighth-ranked Dutch team were in a dominant position in the opening 25 minutes against Algeria and had several good chances but then let matters slip.

"Because you don't put the game to bed within those first 25 minutes, you end up playing against yourselves," Koeman said.

"If you get four or five clear chances, you have to score. And even if that doesn't happen, it shouldn't become a problem.

"But after that, we started making things more difficult for ourselves. At times we lacked aggression and were simply too nice."

Algeria's Anis Hadj Moussa, who plays as a winger for Feyenoord, at his home ground, scored the winner four minutes from time to dampen the Netherlands squad’s mood ahead of their departure on Thursday.

When asked about the defeat in the build-up to the World Cup, Koeman replied, “No”.

"Winning always gives you a certain feeling. Losing is simply bad. We certainly don't need to panic now, but we do need to dot the i's and cross the t's again. You could call it a wake-up call," he said.

The Netherlands face Japan, Sweden and Tunisia in group F at the finals.