SITTARD, March 28 AAP - Australian Olympic soccer coach Raul Blanco believes the Olyroos' stocks for Sydney are high after they were edged out 2-1 by Holland in a friendly here tonight.
Following their creditable 1-0 loss in Slovakia last week, the Australian under-23s gave the Dutch plenty of scares before a 67th minute goal from striker Victor Sikora, of Dutch Premier League side Vitesse Arnhem, put paid to their hopes of an upset.
Inspirational captain Brett Emerton had found the net in the 40th minute to blank out a 30th minute strike by PSV Eindhoven's Wilfred Bouma.
"It was an excellent match, and we did well against one of the best European nations around," said Blanco of Holland, who are tipped to make a strong challenge for the gold medal at the Sydney Games.
"This is the type of game we'd been hoping for, to tell us the truth about how we are going. They don't get any tougher than this.
"We were very, very unlucky, but it was a great experience for our guys and a good performance all round."
The Olyroos' efforts were made more meritorious considering Socceroo defender Stephen Laybutt, Crystal Palace midfielder Nick Rizzo, and Bill Damianos of Greek club Xanthi took no part due to injuries.
Striker Clayton Zane was also called away to join the injury-hit senior national squad for tomorrow's friendly in the Czech Republic.
Blanco said the Australians, most of whom are European-based, would also benefit through their next assignment - a four-nation tournament at home in June against Olympic opponents.
"These two games have certainly given us something to build on aiming towards the Olympics," he said.
"We made a lot of improvement since playing Slovakia, and the four or five days that we were together really helped that.
"The more we play the better off we'll be."
Australia could have gone ahead in the second half when a shot by Sydney Olympic's Emerton was cleared off the line.
South Melbourne's Michael Curjica also came close with an excellent strike moments later, before Sikora put the Dutch ahead.