The new European Championship euphoria after the victory in France has continued: The DFB team also won the friendly against the Netherlands 2-1 on Tuesday evening (March 26, 2024) and showed that it can also overcome setbacks and difficult phases .
Sportschau expert Bastian Schweinsteiger summed up immediately after the final whistle: “This was another very important win against a good Dutch team. The importance of standard situations has been shown once again. All questions that were raised before the two international matches can now be answered positively . Of course the journey is not over yet, but the most important thing is that we are back – and that gives me a lot of hope for a great European Championship.”
Live ticker: Germany – Netherlands arrow right
Nagelsmann, Kimmich and Füllkrug satisfied
National coach Julian Nagelsmann then told ARD: “Our will to win was greater in the end. Those were two big chunks that we beat, even if of course it wasn’t about points yet. But we all have a much better feeling now than before November after the games against Turkey and Austria.”
Joshua Kimmich analyzed: “Even after conceding an early goal, I didn’t have the feeling that we would break because of it. We came back, had a difficult phase after the break, but in the end we had better chances, so the win was deserved. You noticed that people in Germany are ready to spark enthusiasm – if we take the first step.”
Winning goal scorer Niclas Füllkrug said to Sportschau: “The substitutes did a good job, that’s the point of it. You need players on the bench who can turn a game like this around. But even before that it was a very good one Game from us. Now we’re in a positive mood and we want to take that into the tournament.”
Lightning start this time at the opponent
The fans in Frankfurt also took them with them on their way home. Things didn’t get off to an ideal start, in contrast to Saturday’s 2-0 win against the French. The Germans got off to a lightning start, with Florian Wirtz taking the lead after eight seconds with the fastest international goal in DFB history. This time the game backfired quickly.
After three minutes, left-back Maximilian Mittelstädt lost the ball while moving forward, causing extreme embarrassment to the German defense. Jonathan Tah didn’t get into the decisive duel with Memphis Depay and the old Dutch star, who had long since been demoted to a joker at Atlético Madrid, kept an overview: Depay spooned the ball perfectly into the backcourt to the onrushing Joey Veerman, who gave Marc-André ter Stegen no chance with a volley let.
Outstanding reaction from Mittelstädt
The reaction from Mittelstädt, who was only playing his second international match: outstanding. Without quarreling or becoming nervous about his mistake, the Stuttgart player courageously joined the attack in the 11th minute, demanded the ball from Jamal Musiala just before the edge of the penalty area – and chased it under the crossbar to make it 1-1. The new Major Tom goal anthem sounded for the first time – and Germany continued to play completely detached, just as Peter Schilling’s song suggests.
As against France, the ball circulated quickly and safely; the back pass was repeatedly avoided and the direct route to the Dutch goal was instead sought. In the 18th minute, such a targeted combination almost led to success, but captain Ilkay Gündogan was denied by Oranje keeper Bart Verbruggen after a perfect pass from Musiala from close range.
The only thing that was annoying was the wrong footwear
It’s astonishing if you briefly recall the past 2023 international match year and the three blatant tournament disappointments in a row: Germany managed to gain more than 70 percent possession of the ball at times, appeared self-confident and as if the automatisms had long since become second nature. The only thing that was a bit annoying and counterproductive to creating further scoring chances up to the break was the obviously wrong footwear: Musiala in particular, but also Kai Havertz, kept slipping and thus losing the ball.
The first 20 minutes after the restart proved that the path to the top of the world is still far from being achieved despite the promising approaches. The Netherlands now gained a clear advantage, the DFB team became more and more passive and no longer had any access to the defense.
Usury of opportunities in the Netherlands
The lead for Oranje would have been deserved, but Tijjani Reijnders, Donyell Malen, Memphis Depay and Daley Blind missed one chance after another from the best free-kick position.
Julian Nagelsmann reacted after just under an hour with the substitutions of Chris Führich and Pascal Groß, after which a little more order and offensive drive returned.
Germany comes back into the game
Mittelstädt, who had recently suffered another serious loss of the ball on defense, tested Verbruggen with a courageous finish 20 minutes before the end. Shortly afterwards, Musiala broke through, but also couldn’t get the ball past the Dutch goalkeeper. Eight minutes before the end, Führich almost made it 2-1: Thomas Müller also found his match in the outstanding Verbruggen.
But Germany stuck with it and was actually able to celebrate five minutes before the end: After a corner from Toni Kroos, the ball landed at substitute Niclas Füllkrug, whose header Verbruggen apparently scratched away from the line. But referee Espen Eskås’ clock vibrated: thanks to the goal line technology, the goal to make it 2-1 was recognized. The rejoicing on the pitch and in the stands was “completely detached” – it is precisely this new weightlessness that the DFB team now wants to convey through to the European Championships from June 14th.
,%20Homan%20Khrystyna%20(UKR)-0458-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1)