Dutch plan dress rehearsal for starting line-up in Monday friendly

NEW YORK, June 7 : Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman plans to use Monday’s friendly against Uzbekistan in New York as an opportunity for his first-choice line-up to have a proper dress rehearsal ahead of their opening World Cup clash against Japan next weekend.

The rest of the Dutch squad will then play a second unofficial game against the Uzbeks straight afterwards, made up of two 35-minute halves, Koeman announced on Sunday.

“We want to use the first match to make as few changes as possible. We have to wait and see if that works,” he said at a press conference ahead of the clash hat the Ichan Stadium.

“We are going to play the first match largely with our starting team. It is also good for guys who are not 100 per cent fit who can then play in the second match. That is why we are playing two matches.

"We have 26 players and everyone gets minutes to play. That's what you want."

A decision still needs to be made regarding defender Jurrien Timber, who only joined the squad last Thursday after playing for Arsenal in the Champions League final on May 30.

It was Timber’s first outing since March after struggling with a groin injury and there remains concern over his levels of fitness.

“If he trains and is fully fit, he always makes a good impression. That hasn't been the case every day, so we have to make a decision,” Koeman told reporters.

“He participated in training and we are going to sit down with the doctor and Jurrien at the end of (Sunday) afternoon to see whether he is going to start or not,” the coach added.

The Dutch open their Group F campaign against Japan in Dallas on Sunday. Uzbekistan take on Colombia on June 17 in Group K.

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Nick Zieminski)