Ronald Koeman says Netherlands' loss to Algeria is a major wake-up call before World Cup

The North Africans scored a late winner on the eve of the Dutch team's departure for New York, where they will play another friendly against World Cup debutants Uzbekistan on Monday.

"I absolutely hate losing; this was a match we should have won,” a frustrated Koeman said. "We have to win these kinds of home matches; our (ranking) position demands it.”

Koeman felt the eighth-ranked Dutch side dominated the opening 25 minutes against fellow World Cup qualifiers Algeria and had several good chances but then let things slip.

"Because you do not finish the game off within those first 25 minutes, you end up playing against yourselves," Koeman said.

"If you get four or five clear chances, you have to score. And even if that does not happen, it should not become a problem.

"But after that, we started making things more difficult for ourselves. At times we lacked aggression and were simply too nice."

Algeria's Feyenoord winger Anis Hadj Moussa, playing on his home ground, scored the winner four minutes from time to lower the Dutch squad's mood ahead of their departure on Thursday.

Asked if it was better to suffer a defeat in the build-up rather than at the World Cup, Koeman replied, “No”.

"Winning always gives you a certain feeling. Losing is simply bad. We certainly do not need to panic now, but we do need to dot the i's and cross the t's again. You could call it a wake-up call," he said.

The Netherlands face Japan, Sweden and Tunisia in Group F at the finals.