The Netherlands set off to the U.S. on Friday afternoon as the World Cup’s great bridesmaids. Three times they have reached a final — in 1974, 1978 and 2010 — and still they await their big day in the sun. Even their latest pre-match tifo felt telling on Wednesday night. “As a little boy I dreamed about it…” it read.Ronald Koeman’s latest squad might lack the attacking quality of past tournaments but they remain a team aiming big on the countdown to their opener against Japan on June 14. Their own federation, the KNVB, has made the semi-finals a public target.That was the result of optimism being gently stoked during an unbeaten run through qualification but an end to that sequence revealed flaws in their grand plans. Algeria’s 1-0 win, thanks to Anis Hadj Moussa’s excellent late strike, represented an ill-timed stumble.The Athletic analyses the key talking points from the Netherlands’ penultimate warm-up game in Rotterdam.The Dutch struggle in attack — even with in-form MalenThe Netherlands’ obvious and longstanding deficiencies lie in attack. This is not a Dutch era blessed with an attacking superstar and the final match on home soil should have been very different.Donyell Malen, in particular, will have known it was a huge opportunity missed in Koeman’s attack. The forward, who enjoyed a prolific second half of the season loaned to Roma by Aston Villa, hit a post early on but then fluffed a huge chance. Debutant Crysencio Summerville’s cross from the right begged to be converted, only for Malen to stumble and scuff wide.Against an Algerian defence that creaked and split again and again, the Netherlands might have scored as many as five first-half goals when ending up with none. Cody Gakpo was twice denied by goalkeeper Luca Zidane, with one save particularly impressive. Tijani Reijnders should also have found his way onto the scoresheet when denied at the near post.