Oranje finish Nations League group stage with an uninspiring 1-1 draw in Bosnia
Oranje finished their UEFA Nations League group stage campaign with a disappointing 1-1 draw away to Bosnia & Herzegovina. Brian Brobbey got the solitary goal for Koeman’s side, who were already assured of a quarter-final spot prior to the match.
Bosnia had just come off of a 7-0 loss against Germany in their last match. The team was winless in the Nations League this season but were the better side in the second half against a heavily rotated Netherlands side.
Justin Kluivert was given a starting spot, making it his first appearance for the national side in six years. The 25-year-old, who plays for AFC Bournemouth in England, was given two caps in 2018 and has not played for the team since.
The first shot on target in the match came from Stefan de Vrij in the seventh minute. The defender controlled a ball that had been headed out of the box before shooting hard toward goal, but Martin Zlomislic parried the attempt out for a corner.
Bosnia were lacking in quality and were struggling to put passes together resulting in Oranje dominating the first half. This also led to Ronald Koeman’s side taking the lead in the 24th minute. A brilliant cross by Noa Lang was headed in by Brian Brobbey to give the team the lead.
It possibly should have been 2-0 at halftime when the team in Orange had three chances to score in the 40th minute. Jorrel Hato picked out Joshua Zirkzee for the first effort, which was blocked by a Bosnian defender. This led to De Vrij getting a chance, but his shot was too soft and was also deflected by a Bosnian defender to Brobbey, whose effort was also blocked by a Bosnian defender.
Oranje’s second half was typified by a poor start. The defense was caught out by a quick throw as Edin Dzeko was sent running towards goal. But his shot was eventually saved by goalkeeper Mark Flekken after Jeremie Frimpong had used his pace to get back and hinder the striker.
Dzeko thought he had equalized on the hour mark before it was disallowed for offside, but the crowd in the Bilino Polje Stadium in Zenica were celebrating anyway seven minutes later.
Dzeko found space in the box again, but his effort was saved by Flekken before Ermedin Demirovic reacted quickest to the rebound and looped a header over Flekken into the far corner of the goal.
Koeman made changes in the last half an hour, bringing on Donyell Malen, Ryan Gravenberch, Devyne Rensch, Cody Gakpo, and Wout Weghorst, but it did not lead to any significant chances as the match finished in a draw.
Oranje finished second in the group with a five-point gap to group leaders Germany. They will find out their opponents in the quarter-final of the competition on November 22. Bosnia finished bottom of the group with two points and were relegated to division B.
