Ahead of tonight‘s encounter with an old rival, Germany‘s coach Julian Nagelsmann had two ideas: to get all three points and to try some new players who will be the future of Die Mannschaft. He bravely introduced some debutants and got the reward: Germany defeated the Netherlands 1-0 and secured their place in the UEFA Nation League‘s quarter-final. On the other side of the pitch were the Dutch, with a long history of duels with the Germans (47 meetings, 17 Germany wins, 12 Dutch victories, 18 draws) and with a draw in Amsterdam in September, but their coach Ronald Koeman was not so brave and didn‘t use the fact that the hosts were not at full strength. They came to Munich not to lose, had only one shot on target for 90 minutes and failed to secure at least one points. The Netherlands really disappointed in this game, considering they were in impressive form (unbeaten in three UEFA Nations League matches – or 12 matches in total if only regular time is considered), but snowed nothing tonight. On the other side, Julian Nagelsmann decided to mix the first 11 and introduced players like Jamie Leweling (Stuttgart), Tim Kleindienst (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Aleksandar Pavlović (Bayern Munich) Angelo Stiller (Stuttgart) and goalkeeper Oliver Baumann. Before the national anthems, 2014 World Cup Winners Manuel Neuer, Thomas Müller and Toni Kroos – as well as former captain Ilkay Gündogan – were honored for their immense successes for their national team. Between them, the four have played 451 international matches for Germany and only Kroos missed this occasion, due to personall business. LEGENDS! 🇩🇪Germany honoured Ilkay Gundogan, Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller and Toni Kroos, who have all retired from international football ❤️ pic.twitter.com/qWi2Ho8vUy— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) October 14, 2024 After two minutes into the game, Jamie Leweling scored a great goal, after the terrible reaction from the Netherlands‘ defense but VAR denied the goal due to Gnabry‘s offside in the build up. The same player had another good chance 25 minutes later, but this time, his shot was deflected near the goal line. Angelo Stiller tried to score after a header in the 37th minute, but Verbruggen saved it. Netherlands started the second half much better, but failed to create any opportunity before Germany took possession again. Finally in the 64th minute, Lewelling scored his first international goal for Die Mannschaft after a thrid attempt. There was no offside this time around, as Stuttgart player smashed the ball in with a thunderous drive from the edge of the box after a deflection in the penalty area. Xavi Simmons finally made a good chance after a solo effort and smashed the ball into the post in the 77th minute. Donyell Malen came on as a sub and nearly scored in the 90th minute, but Baumann made a terrific save. UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE ASaturdayCroatia – Scotland 2-1 (1-1)/Matanovic 36, Kramaric 70 – Christie 32/Poland – Portugal 1-2 (0-2)/Zielinski 78 – Bernardo Silva 26, Ronaldo 37/Serbia – Switzerland 2-0 (1-0)/Elvedi 45+1 og, Mitrovic 61/Spain – Denmark 1-0 (0-0)/Zubimendi 79/MondayGermany – Netherlands 1-0 (0-0)/Leweling 64/Belgium – France (1-1)/Openda 45 – Muani 35(p), 62Tuesday21:45: (5.20) Scotland (3.80) Portugal (1.75)21:45: (1.30) Spain (5.80) Serbia (12.0)
