Oranje draw 2-2 with Germany in the UEFA Nations League in Amsterdam
Oranje drew 2-2 with Germany in the UEFA Nations League on Tuesday in what was an entertaining match. Oranje took a very early lead through Tijjani Reijnders before goals from Deniz Undav and Joshua Kimmich had given Germany the lead. Denzel Dumfries scored the last goal of the match.
Ronald Koeman made one change to the side that beat Bosnia 5-2 on Saturday. Striker Joshua Zirkzee was replaced by Brian Brobbey.
The atmosphere was electric in the Johan Cruijff Arena, and the crowd exploded after just a minute of playing when the home side took the lead. Brobbey chested a long ball down to Ryan Gravenberch, who got to the ball before his opponent and played it through to Tijjani Reijnders. The midfielder followed his fantastic display last Saturday by scoring the game's first goal.
It should have been 2-0 in the 15th minute. Xavi Simons played a fantastic cross into the box where Denzel Dumfries was completely unmarked. The defender got his header all wrong as it went wide of the goal.
Germany equalized in the 38th minute. Matthijs de Ligt followed his mistake against Bosnia with another error, losing the ball in a dangerous position. This resulted in Deniz Undav playing in Florian Wirtz, whose shot was deflected and then saved before coming back to Undav, who side-footed it home.
Many fans will have already been getting their halftime drinks when Germany scored their second of the game. David Raum met Robert Andrich's long ball brilliantly as he slid it across goal to Joshua Kimmich, who was unmarked and tapped it into the empty net.
Oranje equalized six minutes into the second half. Jamal Musical lost the ball on the edge of the area. Brobbey received it and spun before hitting it across goal to Denzel Dumfries, who was waiting to tap it into the empty goal.
Germany had a significant chance from the kick-off of that goal to retake the lead. Raum came forward again and played a low, hard cross into the box, which Wirtz got a foot on before it hit Havertz in front of the goal and went over.
The match finished 2-2, with the Germans expressing anger at referee Davide Massa's decision to blow for full-time when they were in the middle of a promising attack.
Oranje will face Hungary away on the 11th of October before traveling to Germany three days later in the next round of fixtures in the Nations League. They are currently second behind Germany on goal difference.