Van Dijk snatches a point from Germany and finals ticket for the Netherlands
Published
Virgil van Dijk scored a last-minute equaliser with a fierce volley against already relegated Germany in Gelsenkirchen on Monday night to secure the Netherlands a week in Portugal next June for the finals of the Nations League.
The Dutch rallied after Quincy Promes pulled a goal back with five minutes remaining and set up a nervous finale for Germany, who had dominated throughout and looked good value for their 2-0 lead, a result which would have sent France through as group winners. Ronald Koeman’s side will join Portugal, Switzerland and England (the highest ranked of the four by Fifa) in the finals. The draw will be made in Dublin on 3 December.
The Netherlands, who defeated Germany 3-0 in Amsterdam last month, made a cautious start but they fell behind after nine minutes when Timo Werner fired a low drive past Jasper Cillessen from 25 yards. Leroy Sané added a second 11 minutes later when his left-foot shot from 18 yards went in with the aid of a deflection off Tete.
Germany knocked the ball around with total confidence in the second half and should have been out of sight but Promes’ fine goal changed the mood. Van Dijk stayed up the pitch on the assistant manager’s orders and got the reward after a cross into the box was headed on. It also ensured Germany finished without a win in group A.
“There is still much to improve, we have seen that again today, but this team has shown that it has a bright future ahead,” Koeman said.
The Republic of Ireland ended their year on a positive note with a 0-0 draw in Denmark, though they barely threatened in the match. Christian Eriksen went close when he curled a 42nd-minute free-kick inches over the Irish crossbar and Nicolai Jørgensen saw a shot come back off a post in the second period. “Overall, in terms of creativity [we were ] maybe not completely there, but I thought the commitment was absolutely excellent against a very strong Danish team,” said Martin O’Neill, the Republic manager.
“In the competitive games we’ve played this season, I think that might have been our eighth debutant, and the players are getting used to playing with each other. The players are bedding in, young players coming on. This is international football, this is a massive step up for a number of our players, but they are trying to adjust.”
Slovakia were relegated from group B after losing 1-0 to the Czech Republic. A point would have been enough to secure the Czechs’ survival in a group that had already been won by Ukraine but Roma’s Patrik Schick gave them some comfort.