Fourth-ranked Colombia was coming off a 2-0 win over Belgium last week while the Netherlands drew 2-2 with Japan on Saturday.
Even before the red card and injuries, the Netherlands was playing without a host of injured players, including the driving forces of its attack Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben.
"It's very difficult playing with 10 men against a team like that," Netherlands captain Kevin Strootman said. "We worked incredibly hard to keep a clean sheet."
It was Van der Vaart who came closest to breaking the deadlock before his injury, curling a left-foot shot over Farid Mondragon in the 7th minute only to see it hit the bar and De Jong miss the rebound.
Central defender Joel Veltman, making his international debut in front of his home crowd at the Amsterdam Arena, appeared to be confident but nearly gave a goal away in the 33rd minute when he was dispossessed by James Rodriguez, whose pass to Teofilo Gutierrez found the striker in an offside position.
After the break, the Netherlands continued to push forward and substitute Leroy Fer had two shots blocked after good combinations between PSV teammates Memphis Depay and Luciano Narsingh.
Colombia tried to assert its numerical superiority as the match wore on, with Gutierrez and Radamel Falcao constantly creating problems without carving out clear-cut chances. Gutierrez was substituted in the 69th minute and even though his replacement Victor Ibarbo kept up the pressure in attack the Dutch defense held firm.