SOCCER/International friendlies/England 0 Netherlands 0: The visitors may hail from the low countries, but it was the landscape of England's performance that was unremittingly flat.
Opportunities were wasted, particularly in the first half, but towards the end of a listless friendly it was Holland who started to enjoy the occasion. Another failure to follow the loss to Spain was not wholly unimaginable then.
England may take friendlies lightly but they are not averse to playing against heavyweights. The jubilant 4-1 win at Euro '96 has been the sole victory over the Dutch in the last 23 meetings. The mind swims with recollections of the current Holland coach Marco van Basten's hat-trick at Euro '88 or of the qualifying games that stopped Graham Taylor's team from reaching the 1994 World Cup finals.
This was, therefore, a fixture with a certain resonance in which Shaun Wright-Phillips could enjoy his first start for his country. With six substitutions allowed, a relative newcomer like the Manchester City midfielder has to be quick, just in case, about grasping his opportunity.
It was indeed Wright-Phillips who hogged the attention before the interval but not, generally, as he would have wished.
He misused two excellent opportunities to open the scoring. When, after 15 minutes, David Beckham rolled the ball back to him after collecting an Ashley Cole pass on the left, Wright-Phillips was well placed to finish but shanked his attempt so badly it would have gone well wide even if it had not bounced off a defender.
Four minutes later Beckham smartly put Gary Neville through on the other flank and the full back's low cross was faultless. Even so, Wright-Phillips, from close to the six-yard line was unable to make proper contact.
If he miskicked, the blame must be put down to nerves that will fade the more the England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson trusts him. The manager's misgivings may be more prolonged over an early mistake that showed a potential disadvantage in this new tactical system. Wright-Phillips and Wayne Rooney are both meant to drop back at times to reinforce the midfield.
In the 11th minute, the City player, inside his own half, let himself be caught in possession by Johnny Heitinga, who slipped play to Romeo Castelen on the right. It was simple for him to place the ball in front of Dirk Kuijt who crashed a drive off the inside of the post. Despite that, Holland's threat was sporadic.
There is no proper vengeance to be had in preparatory games, but England did appear to have an excellent opportunity to at least record a win.
These teams are at different stages in the life cycle of sport. While Eriksson concentrates on keeping his squad together his opposite number is in search of a new one.
England had a more worldly air. Though the midfield was not at its most co-ordinated, with Chelsea's midfielder Frank Lampard muted on the evening when he was named England player of 2004, Eriksson's side were largely in control.
Wright-Phillips demonstrated his wiryness, after 33 minutes, to wrestle for possession with Jan Kromkamp and then beat him confidently once he had the ball. He then fired wide, typifying the side's lack of a ruthless finish before the interval.
The sole alteration for the beginning of the second-half saw Owen Hargreaves take over from Lampard. With the Bayern Munich player taking up a holding role, Steven Gerrard was free to advance and make up a trio of deep-lying attackers with Wright-Phillips and Rooney.
There was no marked improvement and the latter two players were soon replaced as Middlesbrough's Stewart Downing and Andy Johnson of Crystal Palace were presented with their debuts. The forward play, if well-intentioned, had been tame with Michael Owen below his best.
The new generation of Dutchman upheld an old tradition by ensuring that this was not, after all, an easy task for England.
Guardian Service
ENGLAND: Robinson, Gary Neville, Brown, Carragher, Ashley Cole, Beckham (Dyer 82), Gerrard (Jenas 82), Lampard (Hargreaves 45), Wright-Phillips (Downing 61), Owen, Rooney (Andrew Johnson 61). Subs Not Used: Glen Johnson, James, Phil Neville, Joe Cole, Defoe, Green.
HOLLAND: Van der Sar, Kromkamp, Mathijsen, Boulahrouz, Van Bronckhorst, Landzaat, Heitinga (Van Bommel 62), Van der Vaart, Castelen (Yildirim 64), Makaay, Kuijt. Subs Not Used: De Jong, Melchiot, Timmer.
Referee: Peter Frojdfeldt (Sweden).
