News (engl.)

In head coach Jürgen Klopp’s first game in charge, the Germany national team kicked off their UEFA Nations League campaign with a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands in Amsterdam. Felix Nmecha’s opener in the 32nd minute was cancelled out by Cody Gakpo’s injury time equaliser (90+2).

Marc-André ter Stegen lined up between the sticks, with a centre-back partnership of Jonathan Tah and Nico Schlotterbeck. Philipp Treu and Nathaniel Brown rounded off the four-man backline. Captain Joshua Kimmich was in the middle of the park alongside Nmecha, and Nadiem Amiri pulled the strings in front of them. Alongside the Mainz attacking midfielder, Kevin Schade and Karim Adeyemi lined up on the wings behind lone striker Kai Havertz.

Germany got off to a fast start and managed to wrest possession back off the Oranje on a few occasions. The hosts really struggled to get on the ball in the opening stages. Still, the Dutch side had the first shot on goal of the encounter through Quinten Timber, though his effort whistled wide of the post (11’). The attempt on goal kick-started a more promising period of play for the home team, which captain Virgil van Dijk almost capped off in perfect style with a headed goal from a corner. However, the goal was disallowed following a VAR check for a foul in the build-up (12’).

Havertz brought off early, Nmecha scores

The shoe was firmly on the other foot by this point, with the Netherlands now putting Germany under pressure in the away side’s half and gaining the upper hand in the process. The game had grown into a hard-fought affair, and challenges in the middle of the park set the tone. Around the half-an-hour mark, Klopp was forced into an early substitution. Younes Ebnoutalib came on for his international debut in place of Havertz, who was unable to continue after a hard challenge.

The debutant was immediately at the centre of events and tested Bart Verbruggen with a shot from an acute angle (31’). Shortly after that, the Dutch keeper was picking the ball out of his own net. Following a cross from Treu, Nmecha opened the scoring with a close-range shot. Adeyemi almost doubled the lead shortly after that but blazed the ball over the bar after being teed up by Brown (39’).

The Oranje had to dust themselves off, though they had a trio of chances to level things up before the break. First, Crysencio Summerville squandered a free header (41’). Then, Micky van de Ven had low driven shot from a tight angle (42’). Finally, a mistake from ter Stegen led to a promising opportunity for Cody Gakpo, but the German number one atoned for his error with a spectacular save (43’).

Ter Stegen stands out

In the second half, the Dutch continued to get forward, while the Germany XI sought to play the ball to the wide players as soon as possible after winning possession back. Denzel Dumfries had the first real opportunity of the second 45, though his header was over the bar (54’). The Oranje continued to set the tone, but Germany remained dangerous on the counter. Schade’s powerful shot was saved, though Adeyemi was unable to convert the rebound (59’). At the other end of the pitch, ter Stegen made a couple of stunning saves to deny Dumfries one-on-one (60’), then – after some pinball in the box – Mexx Meerdink from close range (62’).

Klopp brought two pairs of fresh legs on, replacing Nmecha and Schade with Anton Stach and Chris Führich (64’). Shortly afterwards, ter Stegen was beaten after Dumfries found some space on the right wing. Meerdink, however, fluffed his lines, as his effort rolled wide of the open goal (65’). Germany also went close to extending their advantage shortly afterwards. Following a counterattack, Treu and Adeyemi couldn’t quite get shots off (70’). Verbruggen also made a last-ditch clearance to neutralise the danger posed by an onrushing Ebnoutalib (72’).

Meerdink was once again denied by ter Stegen minutes later, with the keeper diverting the attacker’s effort away from danger with an excellent reflex save (73’). Yannik Engelhardt then entered the fray – the third debutant of night – alongside Serge Gnabry for Amiri and Adeyemi. Just after that, Ebnoutalib was centimetres away from making it 2-0 with a header from Treu’s delivery (84’). Ter Stegen once again kept Germany in the driving seat with yet another save, this time from a Ruben van Bommel effort from range. Ultimately, though, he was powerless to deny Gakpo in added time, and the game ended 1-1.