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The Netherlands drew 1-1 against Spain at the Johan Cruijff ArenA in Amsterdam on Wednesday night. Donny van de Beek equalised early in the second half for the Netherlands after Sergio Canales put Spain in the lead in the first half.
The result has left Dutch manager Frank de Boer without a win in his first four games in charge of the national team, which is a record.
The first half of this game was dominated by Spain, whose passing and pressing were too quick and sharp for the Dutch to handle.
Debutant goalkeeper Marco Bizot had a few saves to make in the first half, with a notable one off Alvaro Morata's left-footed shot.
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But he had no chance of stopping Canales's goal. The Spanish midfielder ran beyond the ball and got goal-side of Joel Veltman, before receiving the ball in the box and smashing the ball past Bizot.
With a few substitutions made at half-time, the Netherlands were a much-changed outfit, with a lot more energy visible in the way they played their football.
The goal came early in the half. Calvin Stengs left Owen Wijndal's cross, and Luuk de Jong was enough of a nuisance to distract Inigo Martinez. The loose ball fell to Donny van de Beek, who smashed home his second goal for the Netherlands.
Memphis Depay and Luuk de Jong had great chances to win the game for the Netherlands, after they were set up by Denzel Dumfries.
In the end, Ryan Babel had a couple of half chances as well, which were deflected wide, as the game never really meandered to a conclusion. Instead, both teams played the full 90 minutes at an incredible intensity, considering that this was just an international friendly.
Here's how each player fared for both sides.
Netherlands Player Ratings
Marco Bizot - 6/10
On his international debut, Bizot had a good game. Early on, he was a bit ruffled, and made simple mistakes with his passing. But as he settled into the game, he was a safe presence between the sticks.
Hans Hateboer - 4/10
Hateboer was poor on the right flank for the Netherlands. He never dealt with Canales's movement to the wider areas, and didn't manage to control Asensio either. He was replaced at half-time by Dumfries
Joel Veltman - 5/10
Veltman had an engaging contest with Morata throughout the game. He was at fault for the Spanish goal though. The Brighton man should have been more alert to the presence and run of Canales.
Nathan Ake - N/A
Ake barely played five minutes of the game before limping off with what looked like a hamstring injury.
Owen Wijndal - 7/10
Eventually, Wijndal was given the assist for van de Beek's goal. In only his second international, Wijndal gave a much better account of himself than on his debut against Mexico. He defended well against the likes of Gerard Moreno and Adama Traore. One potential area to improve would be the accuracy of his crossing.
Frenkie de Jong - 6/10
In the Netherlands's last international in October, de Jong was their best player against Italy. This performance was a shadow of that one. He didn't really break lines with his passing. A player like de Jong is capable of much more than just pointless ball-retention.
Gini Wijnaldum - 6/10
The Dutch skipper, in the absence of Virgil van Dijk, Wijnaldum had a decent first-half, before he was taken off. He drove from midfield and provided some kind of thrust that the Dutch were desperately lacking in the initial minutes of the game.
Donny van de Beek - 8/10
van de Beek had an excellent game for the Netherlands once again. He took up intelligent positions, made smart runs into the box, and passed the ball well. One particularly impressive aspect of his performance was that he won a lot of second balls after the Dutch played it long to Luuk de Jong.
Steven Berghuis - 5/10
The Feyenoord man had no impact on the game. Berghuis's passing accuracy might be a point of concern for de Boer.
Memphis Depay - 3/10
In the first half, Memphis looked a little casual, and never got the intensity going. His dribbling was not at its best, and he just looked a little jaded. He also missed a sitter to win the game, after great work from Dumfries.
Luuk de Jong - 5/10
de Jong should've won the Netherlands the game right at the end after being played through by Dumfries, but he could not create any space for himself to shoot, after making the angle tougher for himself.
Substitutes
Daley Blind - 6/10
Blind came on to replace Ake after five minutes. In the first half, he was hesitant between holding his position and moving forward to deal with Morata. In the second half, he played in midfield, and battled really well.
Stefan de Vrij - 7/10
The experienced Inter Milan man brought calm to proceedings at the back for the Netherlands. de Vrij did the basics right. He was his individual duels, and ensured that those around him were keeping the defensive line tight and at the same depth.
Calvin Stengs - 7/10
It was his clever dummy that allowed the ball to reach van de Beek for the goal. He also set Dumfries away twice into acres of space, to create the other big Dutch chances of the match.
Denzel Dumfries - 7/10
He would argue that he was hard done by to not have two assists tonight. In general, his powerful running on the right flank gave the Dutch a lot more attacking impetus in the game. He also managed to put in a massive block to deny Marco Asensio what looked like a certain goal.
Davy Klaasen - 5/10
Klaasen was a bit poor in midfield tonight. He gave the ball away a tad too often, and his passing range was all wrong.
Ryan Babel - 6/10
Babel had a couple of opportunities to shoot, after coming on for the last ten minutes. He hit the target with those shots, but couldn't score.
Spain Player Ratings
Unai Simon - 6/10
The Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper made his debut for Spain in this game. Simon played superbly with the ball at his feet, displaying supreme confidence. He also pulled off an excellent save to deny Memphis a goal.
Hector Bellerin - 7/10
Bellerin had the better of his individual battle against Memphis. He defended well one-on-one, and didn't allow the Dutch star the time to pick a pass. Going forward as well, there was a conviction to Bellerin's play.
Eric Garcia - 6/10
Garcia defended well enough when he was called upon. In the second half though, Luuk de Jong won his fair share of aerial duels against the youngster.
Inigo Martinez - 7/10
Martinez played well in a rare start for Spain. He held his own against the aerial prowess of the Dutch side at set-pieces. He was also loud and organised the defence really well.
Jose Gaya - 5/10
Gaya had to be substituted midway through the first half after a nasty clash of heads with Hateboer.
Rodri - 8/10
Rodri had an outstanding game in midfield for Spain. His ability to resist the opposition press, and pick passes through the lines were there to be seen in this game. He also was unlucky to not score off a brilliant flicked header from a corner.
Koke - 7/10
Koke was the leader of the Spanish press in this game. He led the way in putting the Dutch defence under some pressure, and the energy levels never dropped through the game.
Sergio Canales - 7/10
Canales scored his first ever goal for Spain, and it was brilliantly taken as well. After a great performance against Portugal in the previous international break, Canales has now back that up with a goal as well.
Marco Asensio - 5/10
Asensio was the quietest player in the starting front three for Spain. Hateboer didn't defend well against him, but as Asensio went in-field, the likes of Veltman
Gerard Moreno - 6/10
Gerard started on the right flank in this game, and was excellent, especially in the first half. He combined superbly with Morata, and helped Spain create quite a few chances.
Alvaro Morata - 6/10
Like Gerard, Morata was also superb in linking play up between the attack and midfield. He combined well with Canales and Koke, who were making runs from deep. He will feel he should've done more with the chance that forced a save out of Bizot.
Substitutes
Sergio Reguilon - 5/10
Reguilon didn't really provide much thrust going forward. In truth, he really didn't do enough defensively either, with every big Dutch chance in the second half coming from the Spanish left flank.
Ferran Torres - 5/10
Torres didn't impact this game much at all, as he could not get enough of the ball in dangerous areas.
Dani Olmo - 6/10
Olmo was sharp in and around the penalty area, and could've created a big chance for Spain, with a little more luck.
Adama Traore - 5/10
He had a big chance, which he hit tamely at Bizot. He really didn't have the opportunity to make his trademark buccaneering runs down the right flank.
Marcos Llorente - 6/10
Llorente had a memorable evening in Amsterdam as he made his Spain debut.
Sergio Ramos - N/A
Ramos had another kind of memorable evening, as his 176th international cap put him on par with Italy's Gianluigi Buffon as the most capped European male player.
