Jürgen Klopp's first match as Germany head coach ended 1-1 against the Netherlands in Amsterdam on Thursday. Felix Nmecha gave Germany the lead after 32 minutes, and Marc-André ter Stegen kept it until the second minute of stoppage time, when Cody Gakpo volleyed in a cross from Ruben van Bommel, a substitute making his debut.
Each of Germany's five head coaches this century won his first match. Klopp is the first of the six who did not, in a UEFA Nations League opener that was also Xavi Hernández's first match in charge of the Netherlands.
Germany were a player short of their plan before kick-off. Jamal Musiala of Bayern Munich was withdrawn during the warm-up with a thigh problem, and Nadiem Amiri started instead. Kai Havertz of Arsenal went off after 30 minutes, shortly after a challenge from Quinten Timber, one of two Dutch players booked within two minutes. Younes Ebnoutalib replaced him on his debut, one of three Germany debutants on the night with Philipp Treu and Yannik Engelhardt.
The Netherlands had a goal ruled out first. Virgil van Dijk headed in from a corner on 13 minutes, but VAR disallowed it because Brian Brobbey had impeded ter Stegen. Brobbey was then down injured when Germany scored. Treu, the debutant right-back, crossed from the right, and Nmecha scored from the rebound. The Dutch players surrounded the referee, arguing that the ball should have been put out of play.
Brobbey, who scored a hat-trick for Sunderland against Manchester City last weekend, went off three minutes later with what NOS described as an apparent hamstring injury. Mexx Meerdink replaced him, also on his debut.
Karim Adeyemi missed a clear chance to make it 2-0 before half-time. After the break the Netherlands took over, and ter Stegen, who plays his club football for Ajax in the same stadium, made the saves that kept Germany ahead: from Denzel Dumfries around the hour, from Meerdink, whose effort on 73 minutes he tipped onto the post, and from Van Bommel late on.
The equaliser came from a German mistake. Serge Gnabry, on as a substitute, lost the ball on the touchline. Van Bommel ran at the defence and crossed with the outside of his right boot, and Gakpo volleyed in at the far post. It was his 25th goal for the Netherlands, one more than Marco van Basten and Dirk Kuyt. Guus Til headed wide in the last seconds.
Klopp had a line ready for the assist. Van Bommel's father, Mark, spent years in Bayern Munich's midfield.
He didn't get that from his father. The outside of the boot must come from his mother.
Jürgen Klopp to RTL. Translated from German by ArenaBulletin.
Klopp told RTL he was very happy with the passion but that Germany can play better. Musiala and Havertz were both having MRI scans on Thursday night, he said, and he expected both to be out for Germany for the rest of this window, while hoping they would not be out long for their clubs.
Xavi told NOS that his side had been a little nervous before half-time and had shown in the second half how they want to play. He singled out his two debutants, saying Van Bommel had made the difference and Meerdink had been excellent in Brobbey's place, and said he would call up a replacement striker.
Greece won 2-1 in Serbia in the group's other match, so they have three points, the Netherlands and Germany one each, and Serbia none. The Netherlands play Serbia in Belgrade on Sunday, when Germany host Greece in Augsburg. Germany have now won 18 of the 49 meetings between the two countries and the Netherlands 12, with 19 drawn.
