The Netherlands national team was set to depart for the World Cup on Thursday in a sombre mood after being given "a wake-up call" by losing their penultimate tune-up match 1-0 at home against Algeria.
Ronald Koeman's team is flying to New York where they will play a final warm-up match against Uzbekistan before starting the World Cup on June 14 against Japan. Sweden and Tunisia are the other group stage opponents.
"This is a wake-up call," Koeman told broadcasters NOS while also insisting that "we are not going to panic."
Daily De Telegraaf said that "the Dutch national team boards the plane with their faces red with embarrassment" after the defeat. Algemeen Dagblad said the team was leaving with "a little hangover."
The three-time World Cup runners-up played a good first half with their expected World Cup starters in Rotterdam but missed a host of chances.
Koeman rang the changes after the break and Algeria boosted morale for their June 16 World Cup start against title holders Argentina with a late winner from Anis Hadj Moussa's stunner.
"We owe it to our fans to win matches like this, especially at home," Koeman said.
"I don’t want to blame the substitutions, but it’s clear that we became sloppier in the second half and created fewer chances. Our play became more laboured, and at times we lacked aggression. We were just a bit too soft.
"Algeria have shown that friendly matches are a thing of the past. They play with their hearts. I hope we can take this with us to the World Cup in a positive way."
Not present, and badly missed, on Wednesday was experienced right back Denzel Dumfries who was undergoing a medical at Real Madrid in an expected transfer from Inter Milan.
De Telegraaf said that the team could not compensate his absence and it warned in general terms that "it’s a major concern for the Dutch team if Koeman can’t call upon his first-choice players at the World Cup."
