sport news The USA STUNNED Holland the last time the two sides met and will look to repeat ... trends now
The last time the USA and Holland faced off, Robin van Persie had just finished his third and final season with Manchester United, and a 22-year-old John Brooks was viewed as the future at center back for the Stars and Stripes.
It's been a while.
But while the US' squad in Qatar has just two holdovers (DeAndre Yedlin and Jordan Morris) from that game in 2015, there's inspiration and lessons to take from that stunning 4-3 comeback win.
DeAndre Yedlin is one of just two current USA players who played vs. Holland in 2015
Entering the June friendly, Holland - less than a year removed from losing in the World Cup semifinals on penalties to Argentina - were No. 6 in the FIFA rankings.
The USMNT were just 27th despite a respectable showing in Brazil, as they escaped a group with Germany, Ghana and Portugal and took Belgium to the wire in extra time of the Round of 16.
Nonetheless, they were massive underdogs on paper for the friendly vs. the Dutch and still managed to earn an impressive win at Amsterdamn ArenA (now known as Johan Cruyff Arena), the home of Ajax.
The game was an open one, and while the US found themselves in a 3-1 hole, it wasn't for a lack of chances early on.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar netted a brace in the matchup but the Dutch still went on to lose
Bobby Wood netted a 90th-minute winner for the USA as they stunned their hosts
Saturday's matchup will look drastically different from who was on the field last time around
Gyasi Zardes missed from close range in the 15th minute, Michael Bradley struck the post from the top of the box and Brek Shea squandered an opportunity on the break.
Holland, however, created openings as well, and took the lead when Klaas Jan Huntelaar lost his man and headed home in the 27th minute.
Following a first-half equalizer from Zardes, Memphis Depay and Huntelaar struck in the second half to give the Dutch a 3-1 lead.
From there, Brooks, Danny Williams and Bobby Wood scored to turn the game around, and there's some clues in that hugely impressive comeback on how the US can hurt the Dutch this weekend.
The second US goal came in the sort of way this high-energy American group might create chances: winning the ball in midfield, feeding it to a pacy, offensively-inclined right-back (then Yedlin) before rolling it to an attacker (in this case an out of position Brooks) to slot home.
Earlier this week, in fact, the US' winning goal vs. Iran came from right-back Sergino Dest getting beyond the opposing defense and providing a (painful) tap-in to Christian
