NATIONS LEAGUE. After a remarkable evening, the Netherlands qualifies for the quarter-finals, Germany entertains supporters with a goal fair

The evening could not have started better for the Germans. After just two minutes, child prodigy Jamal Musiala made the supporters in Freiburg cheer for the first time. Joshua Kimmich painted the ball perfectly on the head of his Bayern teammate and he headed it in well. A dream start for ‘Die Mannschaft’. Halfway through the first half the books were ready. The visitors from Bosnia and Herzegovina barely made it into the play and old acquaintance Tim Kleindienst doubled the lead for the home team. Just before half time, Kai Havertz was also on the scoreboard after a clever combination.

From then on you could take your foot off the accelerator, but the Germans had little interest in that. We were barely five minutes into the second half when that other super talent Florian Wirtz put himself behind a free kick. The ball seemed within reach of the visiting goalkeeper, but he did not go completely free. The young boy was clearly looking forward to it, because not much later he scored his second goal of the evening from close range. The forfeit score was on the board.

In minute 66, Havertz launched the newly substituted Leroy Sané, who scored for the 6-0. Once again goalkeeper Vasilj didn’t look too good. Ten minutes before the end, Kleindienst scored his second of the evening and it became a very painful defeat for Bosnia and Herzegovina with just seven (!) goals conceded. Germany had already qualified for the quarter-finals, but treated the supporters to a wonderful evening.

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The Netherlands sets aside upset Hungarians

In the Johan Cruijf Arena, the Netherlands prepared for a crucial match against Hungary. The match started well for the visitors. The Liverpool midfielder was able to approach Verbruggen’s goal after just three minutes, but the shot was blocked in extremis. Schäfer’s rebound could not surprise the closing team either. Just when ‘Orange’ was getting better into the match, a drama seemed to arise on an extra-sporting level.

Hungarian assistant coach Adam Szalai suddenly collapsed and had to be resuscitated. The man was taken to hospital, but is now stable again. After about fifteen minutes of delay, the referee was able to whistle the match again. At least, not before he first looked at the VAR screen. The video referee had noticed a handball by the visitors in their own penalty area just before the incident with Szalai. Wout Weghorst converted the penalty and celebrated (too) exuberantly.

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The home team suddenly seemed under steam and tested the reflexes of the visiting goalkeeper, but he did not budge. Ultimately, we had to wait until just before half-time for that second redeeming goal. Donyell Malen turned his direct opponent completely crazy and was subsequently brought down. Another penalty, but this time Cody Gakpo got behind the ball – much to the dismay of coach Koeman. The Liverpool striker did not fail to push the ball into the net.

In the second half the Dutch had a number of good chances, but they had to wait until minute 64 for the redeeming goal. Denzel Dumfries took a ball at the far post in one go, the bouncing shot went into the far corner. Just before the end, newly substituted Teun Koopmeiners also contributed with an excellent header. 4-0 and match played. The home team thus qualifies for the quarter-finals of the Nations League. Portugal, Italy or Spain await you there.

Football was also played in group B tonight. Earlier today, Georgia and Ukraine held it to a 1-1 draw. Kvirkvelia put his nation behind early with an own goal, but Mikautadze – ex-Seraing – equalized fifteen minutes before the end. Iceland won 0-2 in Montenegro after goals from Oskarsson and Johannesson. Wales and Turkey also shared the points with a brilliant score, while Albania and the Czech Republic did the same later in the evening.

In group C, Azerbaijan and Estonia also failed to score. Sweden and Slovakia did. The score was 2-1 for the yellow shirts. Who else than Sporting striker Gyökeres quickly gave his team the lead, but after twenty minutes Hancko leveled the score. Newcastle striker Alexander Isak took the lead immediately after half-time and also scored the final score. Finally, in group D, Moldova won 0-1 against Andorra.