Two new coaches took to the limelight this evening in Bari, as Italy defeated the Netherlands 2-0. Goals from Ciro Immobile and Daniele De Rossi gave the Italians a quick-fire lead inside the first ten minutes of play.
A long ball out of the Italian central defence caught Netherlands off guard. Borussia Dortmund's newest signing caught up to it and controlled it excellently. Immobile was calm, cool and collected on the ball, as he dribbled around Jasper Cillessen and slotted home.
Things went from bad to worse for Gus Hiddink. Now starting his second spell as the Dutch coach, when Bruno Martins Indi brought down Sassuolo striker Zaza inside the eighteen yard box and was sent off for his actions, it left Hiddink watching on in disbelief. Everybody knew what was going to happen next, as de Rossi stepped up to take the penalty and chipped it into the bottom left corner of the goal, sending Cillessen the wrong way.
Hiddink was forced into an early change, as he plays in the 4-3-3 formation. He had to plug up the back four, meaning scarificing an attacking player. He took off Jeremain Lens and put on 22-year-old center back Joel Veltman, who plays his football for Dutch giants Ajax. After the horrible start, the Netherlands were finally starting to settle down around the 20 minute mark, when they started sustaining possession longer and stringing together more passes than earlier in the match.
Italy hit the Netherlands on the counter, as Zaza was played in by Immobile, but his shot went straight at Jasper Cillessen. There was not much action left in the half, or in the second, as Italy played it out very professionally.
However, there were just a few moments in the second-half early on, before all eyes switch to the qualifiers next week. Holland started out brightest in the first fifteen minutes or so, before the subs altered the play of game. Andrea Ranocchia made a defensive error which saw Robin van Persie hit his shot inches wide of the target, in what was probably Netherlands best opportunity of the night.
Zaza hit the side netting, as he was one of the better players on the pitch for both sides, despite only contributing in the score line when he got tugged down. Wesley Sneijder fired a shot from some distance out and the ball took an awkward bounce that nearly fooled Salvatore Sirigu, who plays his club football for PSG.
Italy will now fly to Norway, as the Netherlands will travel to the Czech Republic to begin their campaigns. Both sides will be favoured to get out of their groups rather unscathed.