Netherlands fought back from 2-0 down to earn a 2-2 draw against Finland in their opening game of the U21 European Championships.
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With ten wins out of ten in the qualifiers, Netherlands went into the group as favourites but the first half brought Michael Reiziger’s side crashing back down to earth.
Jong Oranje dominated the opening 25 minutes but a sloppy pass from Ian Maatsen put Kenneth Taylor in trouble and after Finland stole the ball, Casper Terri netted. Four minutes later, Youri Regeer was robbed and Topi Keskinen made it 2-0.
Netherlands were shocked and at the break, Reiziger switched Regeer out and brought in Luciano Valente. The Groningen man had an impact as he shot low into the corner to make it 2-1.
The Netherlands then squandered a number of chances with Ruben van Bommel guilty of some poor finishing. It seemed Finland were going to hold onto the win when Thom van Bergen was denied by an excellent save.
However, in the 90th minute, Ernest Poku equalised with a nice finish and Netherlands almost won it when Devine Rensch popped up in the box but his shot was blocked.
A really poor performance from the Netherlands and they will need to regroup when they face Denmark on Sunday.
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