Skip to main content

Euro 2016 Qualifying: Netherlands v Latvia

The 68-year-old's second stint in charge of the national team has not gone to plan thus far and Hiddink suggested he will "take the logical step" if they fail to get a result this weekend

That comment was prompted by last month's 2-0 defeat to Iceland, which leaves the Netherlands third in Group A.

Since finishing third at the World Cup the Dutch have only won once – a 3-1 win over Kazakhstan in October – and  fallen to four defeats, a run which mirrors the first five games of Hiddink's first spell in charge of his country two decades ago.

"We've shown a lot of strength, but we were not conclusive in the final phase," Hiddink said. "If you get seven or eight chances, you should surely score three.

"On the first goal everyone was too remote, then followed a series of errors that should not happen at international level."

Hiddink's frustrations in his attack will be a worry, as his defence could be shorn of two World Cup regulars.

Illness has kept Bruno Martins Indi out of selection this time around, and Ron Vlaar sustained a calf injury during the Mexico game - with Karim Rekik drafted in as cover.

He will hope the current striking options of Robin van Persie and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar can put a public disagreement against Kazakhstan behind them, and do something similar on Sunday.

"[Arjen] Robben, Van Persie, [Wesley] Sneijder, many others – they are world-class players, at another level," he said.

"But we cannot give up. It is humans who play football, not surnames. 

"Yes there is a significant gap in class but we have to take to the pitch and fight from the first minute until the last one."