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In a blockbuster clash at the Amsterdam Arena, the Dutch took on the Germans. Both teams were hoping to recover some of their lost pride after a disastrous start to 2018. Ronald Koeman handed debuts to two rising stars - Denzel Dumfries and Steven Bergwijn, and the Germans played a full strength squad.
Virgil van Dijk opened the scoring for the Dutch with a header from close range after a cross from Depay deflected off the cross bar. The Dutch were swift in their counter attacks and their pace troubled the German defence, leading to two late goals from Memphis Depay and Wijnaldum. These are the hits and flops from the encounter.
Hits
#1 Memphis Depay
The enormous talent Depay possesses has never been in doubt, but he has been largely inconsistent at both country and club level, and one ever knows which side of Depay will be on display.
On Saturday in front of his home crowd, he was simply sensational with his contribution being vital to all three goals. His brilliant corner kick deflected off the post and led to a headed goal.
The second goal was a scintillating counter attack, and Depay applied the finishing touch in style, with a nutmeg to the legendary Neuer. In another counter attack during injury time, he played out a beautiful dummy which led to Wijnaldum’s goal.
#2 Virgil Van Dijk
The newly appointed captain of The Netherlands team once again had a great outing. He struggled a bit in the first half as he moved forward a little bit in order to provide better distribution to the Dutch midfielders. But he was imperious in the second half, never allowing any German forward to beat him, and he cleared almost every cross .
He opened the account for the Dutch with a header, and it was a captain’s performance from the world class center back.
#3 Georginio Wijnaldum
This was a night to remember for Wijnaldum as his last minute goal resulted in a historic win for The Netherlands. He was a force to be reckoned with in the midfield, as he had a perfect outing.
He made some great interceptions, was flawless with his passing, and produced a great run that led to the 3rd goal. He is more adept in the holding midfield position, but he proved his versatility with an outstanding performance as a right midfielder. If Wijnaldum continues to play like this, the Dutch will have high hopes in Euro 2020.
Flops
#4 Jerome Boateng
With every passing match, Boateng’s place in the German national team is being questioned, and his disastrous form continued with yet another disappointing performance against the Dutch.
He rarely made a decent tackle in the match, and the clearances were not enough. The Dutch forwards really had it easy against him. His marking in set pieces was also very poor, and this is not a performance football fans expect from the center back of a World Cup winning team.
#5 Manuel Neuer
He did not make any bad mistakes in this match, the goals were mostly due to some awful defending, but still everyone expects more from a player of Neuer’s calibre.
Normally Neuer would not have allowed the corner kick from Depay to hit the crossbar, and he could have gone forward to stop Depay from scoring the second goal.
Ever since his comeback from injury, and a heart breaking World Cup exit, Neuer looks down on confidence. Even in this form not many can match the level of Neuer, but the Germans have another world class goalkeeper in Ter Stegen, and Germany can try giving Neuer a break in order to allow him regain his lost mojo.
