Uefa Nations League

Germany, Netherlands draw after late Dutch comeback

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Virgil vsn Djik of the Netherlands and Thomas Muller of Germany
  • Post published:November 20, 2018

The Netherlands sealed a spot in the final four of the inaugral Uefa Nations League after they scored two late goals to draw 2-2 with Germany in Gelsenkirchen.

Monday’s result means that the Netherlands will join Portugal, England and Switzerland in next June’s finals after they topped Group A1, with world champions France missing out on a spot in the final four.

Ronald Koeman’s side came into this game knowing that they simply needed to avoid defeat to book their spot in the final four, after a stunning win over world champions France last Friday.

However, that performance seemed to have come at a cost, with several of their players below par in Germany on Monday night.

Germany went ahead early on as Timo Werner scored his first international goal since June before Leroy Sane’s second goal in as many outings had Germany coasting.

But the home side failed to kill the game in the second half after squandering a mass of opportunities and two goals in the last five minutes for Netherlands turned the game on its head.

Needing only a point to advance, Quincy Promes offered a late lifeline to the outplayed visitors as he curled in an inch-perfect effort from the edge of the box with five minutes left.

Liverpool centre-back Van Dijk was then instructed to play the remaining minutes of the game as an additional striker for Netherlands and that move paid off when he expertly volleyed home to level the scores in stoppage time.

The Oranje’s qualification for the finals makes up an interesting final four for the inaugral competition, with the likes of France, Belgium, Spain, Germany and Croatia all missing out.

Portugal, who will host the finals next June, became the first team to reach the final stage after they topped group A3.

Gareth Southgate’s England side became the next to join them after a dramatic late Harry Kane winner against World Cup finalists Croatia at Wembley on Sunday.

Switzerland also defied the odds to qualify when they came from 2-0 down to beat Belgium 5-2 at the Swissporarena, before Netherlands completed the final four on Monday night.