The Netherlands breaks the streak of Flick’s Germany

The Netherlands tied with Germany (1-1) in a warm-up friendly for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and broke the streak of coach Hans Dieter Flick, who had won all eight games played since he took charge of the German team.

The Germans dominated the Dutch in the first half, both in attack and defence, and took the lead thanks to a goal from Thomas Müller. After the break, changes introduced by Louis van Gaal gave life to the hosts, who put the tables in the 68th minute thanks to a goal from Steven Bergwijn.

The draw was fair and shows that both coaches must improve things if they want to have options for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The new 3-4-1-2 set up by Louis van Gaal for the “Orange” did not work in the first half, as the defenders gave the impression of not knowing who they had to mark. Frenkie de Jong, probably the best in the Netherlands, was one of the few who showed consistency both in attack and back.

The high pressure of the Germans put the local defense in trouble when the ball came out and Mark Flekken, who made his debut last Saturday against Denmark, gave the occasional scare with the ball at his feet. The Freiburg goalkeeper has become the owner of the “Orange” thanks to the injuries of Valencia goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen and Feyenoord Justin Bijlow, but he was irregular both on Saturday against Denmark and tonight against Germany.

Sané and Müller caused fear every time they approached the area. When everything indicated that the teams would go to rest in a draw, Germany’s goal came. Bayern Munich striker Jamal Musiala reached the baseline down the left flank, delivered a killer pass, and Dutchman Tyrell Malacia cleared as best he could. Müller, attentive to the rebound, shot Flekken and made it 0-1 on the scoreboard.

Van Gaal brought in Georginio Wijnaldum as soon as the second half began and Davy Klaassen and Steven Bergwijn a few minutes later. The changes gave the “Clockwork Orange” the bite it needed and went from less to more. After ten minutes in which Sané and Kehrer tried to score the second, the Netherlands leveled things up The move was born from a long pass from Barcelona player Frenkie de Jong to Denzel Dumfries, who headed back from the baseline. Depay could not finish off, but behind him was Steven Bergwijn and he hit the ball with his soul. The Tottenham footballer, who had not been on the field for even ten minutes, scored his third goal in two games with the national team.

The goal awoke the Johan Cruyff Arena from lethargy and carried the “Orange” on the wing. In the 72nd minute there was a controversial play that, if it weren’t for a friendly, would have caused a river of ink to flow. Thilo Kehrer pushed Depay in the area, the referee gave a penalty and the VAR asked him to review it. England’s Craig Pawson annulled it after reviewing it on screen, outraging the local bench.

Neither the Germans nor the Dutch were satisfied with a draw and kept trying until the end. In the final minutes, Depay failed to finish off an excellent opportunity and, just before the final whistle, the German Lukas Nmecha was left alone in front of the goalkeeper, but he shot directly into Flekken’s hands.

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