An 84th-minute goal from Niclas Fuellkrug allowed Euro 2024 hosts Germany to defeat the Netherlands 2-1 in a friendly in Frankfurt on Tuesday.
Substituted in with 17 minutes left, the Borussia Dortmund striker jumped the highest to score with a header from a Toni Kroos corner. Goal-line technology confirmed the ball had crossed the line.
Germany had to recover in the match, conceding a goal after just four minutes, with Joey Veerman taking advantage of some weak defending from Maximilian Mittelstaedt to give the Dutch the lead.
Mittelstaedt, in his second game for Germany, made up for his mistake shortly after, scoring a stunning goal from outside the box to equalize on the 10-minute mark.
The win continues Germany’s recent improvement, marking a second-straight victory less than three months before hosting Euro 2024.
Kroos, called back into the German side after retiring from international duty in 2021, told RTL “I’m convinced we’ll play a good tournament.”
“I’m proud of the team. We came out of a difficult time. We have momentum and belief back, even if we didn’t start the game well.
“A couple of months ago we may have fallen in a heap, but that didn’t happen. We’ve played two very good friendlies — it’s just a shame we won’t get any points (at the Euros) for that.”
Germany came into the match with a rare wave of optimism, boosted by a convincing 2-0 win over France on Saturday after a disappointing 2023, in which they won just three of 11 matches.
Julian Nagelsmann picked the same starting lineup as against France but unlike Saturday’s quick start, when Florian Wirtz put Germany in front after just seven seconds, the Dutch took advantage of a mistake to open the scoring four minutes in.
Following an impressive debut against France, Mittelstaedt was at fault, with his poor pass finding Memphis Depay who squared for Veerman to score.
Mittelstaedt, however, redeemed himself, blasting in an incredible shot from outside the box which hit the crossbar and went in.
Jamal Musiala, who set up the equaliser with a delicate pass, almost created another chance after 17 minutes when he passed expertly to Kai Havertz, but the Arsenal forward shot straight at the goalkeeper.
Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman had made seven changes to the side which defeated Scotland 4-0 on Friday.
Despite looking disorganized as a result and rarely troubling the German defence, the visitors managed to take the sting out of the match after the early flurry, with few chances for either side in the second period.
Nagelsmann made substitutions, replacing Havertz and Wirtz with veterans Thomas Mueller and Fuellkrug, and Germany immediately looked better.
Moments later, Musiala forced a desperate save as Germany increased the pressure, with Fuellkrug then scoring a header to give the hosts the lead, marking his 11th goal in 15 internationals.
AFP
