Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk refused to make excuses for their loss to Italy.
The Netherlands were in poor form throughout the game, failing to create too many goal scoring chances.
The Italians only needed the one goal, which came through Nicolo Barella, to secure the win. They are now top of Group A1.
"It was a poor game for us," the Liverpool defender told NOS.
"We couldn't really put them under pressure, we were sloppy in possession.
"The pitch didn't help, either, but that shouldn't be an excuse.
"We should be better - that's the conclusion tonight.
"The first half wasn't good. After the break, we tried to turn that around, and you saw it did go better at times, but, generally, it wasn't a good match.
"You try to put on all your pressure and, at a certain point, the players also get tired.
"It's then difficult to keep that up and, when we have the ball, to keep making runs.
"But I'm not going to make excuses.
"The first half, in particular, was average to poor."
