The Netherlands and Germany played out an entertaining friendly which saw the hosts earn a late 2-1 victory.

Ronald Koeman reverted back to a 5-3-2 for the trip to Germany with Bart Verbruggen, Daley Blind, Matthijs de Ligt, Denzel Dumfries, Jerdy Schouten, Joey Veerman and Donyell Malen all coming into the eleven.

The Netherlands got off to the perfect start when Memphis won the ball high before teeing up Veerman to volley in the opener after four minutes.

The lead only lasted seven minutes before Maximilian Mittelstadt found the top corner with an unstoppable strike from the edge of the box.

The game then remained entertaining with Germany having the ball but the Netherlands looking dangerous on the counter. A free kick created the Netherlands best chance as De Ligt’s knockdown was cleared just in front of Malen who was ready for a tap-in.

In the second half, the Netherlands began strongly and they got a flurry of chances. However, Reijnders and Memphis were both off target with shots, while Malen’s fierce strike was straight at the German stopper.

Koeman made changes with Quinten Timber allowed to make his Oranje debut, while Wout Weghorst, Marten de Roon and Cody Gakpo also came on.

The changes for Germany put them in charge and Verbruggen had to make two excellent saves before the hosts for the lead with five minutes left. A header from Fullkrug just crept over the line despite the best efforts of Verbruggen. Goalline technology showed it had just crossed the line.

Xavi Simons was brought on and he came close with a low strike that was kept out while in the last second, Wout Weghorst got the ball in front of goal but his weak effort was stopped.

A defeat for Oranje but a battling performance for Koeman’s side that showed promise at times.




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