(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Netherlands manager Guus Hiddink slammed his players for a succession of defensive blunders after giving up a 3-1 lead against the United States in a crazy final 20 minutes to lose 4-3.
"It was a mad end of the match," fumed Hiddink after the game in Amsterdam.
"This is a difficult moment. We were completely disorganised in the last 20 minutes," added the 68-year-old, who is in his second spell as national coach having in the previous one guided the Dutch to the 1998 World Cup semi-finals.
Although the Amsterdam game on Friday was only a friendly, the match was crucial in Hiddink's efforts to get the Netherlands back into the European Championships qualifying race.
They are third in Group A - five points behind second placed Iceland - and have a crunch match in Latvia on Friday.
With 20 minutes to go the Dutch were 3-1 up against Jurgen Klinsmann's USA through two goals from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and one from Manchester United-bound Memphis Depay.
Los Angeles Galaxy forward Gyarsi Zardes scored his first international goal in the first half, but the United States were revitalised by Germany-born John Brooks 70th minute goal - almost a year to the day since his goal sealed Klinsmann's side a surprise 2-1 win over Ghana in a group match at the World Cup finals.
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