Netherlands captain Wesley Sneijder confessed his disappointment after his side were beaten 2-1 at home by Greece in the final friendly before their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign kicks off.
Though the Dutch led through Georginio Wijnaldum’s scrappy opener, goals from Kostas Mitroglou and Giannis Gianniotas turned the game on its head.
And Sneijder, returning to the Netherlands side after missing their four-match unbeaten run, admitted this was not ideal preparation for a qualifying clash with Sweden on Tuesday.
“This is hard,” he told SBS6. “You want to take a good feeling to leave for Sweden.
“You know that the match against Greece is not for qualifying, but for the confidence.
“In both the first half and the second half we started well. After leading 1-0 we should have anticipated [a Greece response]. We have failed. Then we gave it away.”
Netherlands are looking for a return to tournament football after failing to qualify for Euro 2016.
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