Soccer <\/p>\n
Ronald Koeman said that Monday’s friendly against\u00a0Uzbekistan will be used to fine-tune his starting line-up for the Netherlands’ opening game at the World Cup.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Netherlands take on World Cup debutants Uzbekistan at\u00a0Icahn Stadium, hoping to bounce back from their shock 1-0 defeat to Algeria before they jetted off to North America.<\/p>\n
The Oranje’s defeat saw them lose their final home match before a major tournament for only the fourth time, having previously done so in 1934, 1938 and 2004.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Koeman made the decision to replace his entire team against Algeria, with six of those changes coming at half-time, including\u00a0Virgil van Dijk and\u00a0Micky van de Ven.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Netherlands come up against an Uzbekistan side that were beaten 2-0 by co-hosts Canada last time out, while it will also be the first ever meeting between the two nations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And while Koeman insisted that almost every player within his 26-man squad would play in their final World Cup warm-up, he said the team that lines up to start the match will likely be the one that faces Japan in their Group F opener on June 14.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We want to use the first \u200bmatch to make as few changes as possible. We have \u2060to wait and see if that works,”\u00a0Koeman told reporters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We are going to play \u200bthe first match largely with our starting team. It is also good for guys who are not 100% fit who can then play in the second match.<\/p>\n
“That \u200bis why we are playing two matches.\u00a0We have 26 players and everyone \u200bgets minutes to play. That’s what you want.”<\/p>\n
\nWork in progress.<\/p>\n
#NEDUZB<\/a>\u00a0#NothingLikeOranje<\/a> #FIFAWorldCup<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/tP0oOb5BKO<\/a><\/p>\n