Hiddink rubbishes talk of Dutch negativity
After needing a late Klaas-Jan Huntelaar strike to claim a 1-1 draw with Turkey, Guus Hiddink denied that Netherlands were too defensive in their approach.
Huntelaar diverted home Wesley Sneijder's strike deep into injury time at the Amsterdam Arena on Saturday as the Dutch struggled to a stalemate against a well-organised Turkish side.
However, Hiddink maintains he set up his team in the best manner possible, playing down suggestions that Jordy Clasie would have offered a better attacking option than Nigel de Jong in midfield.
"Even with what I know today, I would have done the same on Saturday," Hiddink said.
"I look back to the game, Turkey had two good chances before the break and scored their third.
"We also had two chances but in the second half, I can't remember the Turks having as many chances as us in the final third.
"You are very naive if you expected more opportunities.
"Already in the first 12 minutes we were deep in Turkey's half, so we did not play conservatively.
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"Jordy Clasie in place of Nigel de Jong does not necessarily make us less conservative.
"We missed a lot of experience [referring to injured pair Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie]. Nigel is internationally proven, Clasie is also an excellent player but does not have so much experience at the highest level."
Feyenoord midfielder Clasie will miss Tuesday's friendly with Spain due to a knee injury, although Hiddink was quick to play down rumours generated from Monday's training session.
"Jordy Clasie would have played against Spain if he was still here," Hiddink added.
"You can conclude anything from the jackets [in training] but we're making [the line-up] clear tonight to the players and then we can make it known to the public."