With Arjen Robben, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Rafael van der Vaart out injured, the Dutch lost 2-0 away to Italy on Thursday, hindered by an early red card for Bruno Martins Indi.
That set a disappointing tone for Hiddink, who took over a side buoyed by their unexpected third-place finish at the World Cup.
He believes the key to his side's upcoming encounter is making a better start than against Italy.
"The evening was already over after eight minutes," Hiddink rued. "During the opening stages, we were naive in our defending.
"We were so easily overrun and that should not be the case. You cannot start a match so badly."
"It's nice that Van Persie could play a little longer," he said. "He sacrificed himself for the team very well."
Hiddink's starting XI against Italy resembled the one that shone in Brazil. However, a number of youngsters are pushing for inclusion, such as in-form PSV pair Luciano Narsingh and Memphis Depay and Ajax playmaker Davy Klaassen.
Depay in particular seems to have caught the boss' eye, with Hiddink waxing lyrical about the forward's potential.
He said: "Depay can be the best. He has more potential than I first thought. He is the man who could be dangerous."
