LONDON: Mikel Merino’s 93rd-minute equaliser earned Spain a 2-2 draw against the Netherlands in Nations League quarter-final first leg action on Thursday, while Croatia have one foot in the semi-finals after beating France 2-0.
Germany are in prime position to host the final stage of the tournament after coming from behind to beat Italy 2-1 in Milan while Rasmus Hojlund fired Denmark into a slender first-leg lead against Portugal.
In Rotterdam, reigning champions Spain raced into an early lead through Nico Williams but needed an injury-time leveller by substitute Mikel Merino against the 10 men of the Netherlands to salvage their two-year unbeaten streak.
Spain took the lead in the ninth minute when high pressure saw Jorrel Hato robbed high up the pitch by Lamine Yamal, who connected with Pedri. The Barcelona midfielder slid the ball in for Williams to turn and beat goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen from around six metres out.
Justin Kluivert set up Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo to equalise with a low shot from the left that went in at the near post in the 28th minute.
Less than a minute into the second half, the Netherlands took the lead after the impressive Jeremie Frimpong left Marc Cucurella for pace and pulled the ball back for the unmarked Tijjani Reijnders to place his shot beyond the reach of goalkeeper Unai Simon.
But an 81st-minute red card for teenager Jorrel Hato for a rash challenge on Robin Le Normand gave Spain a way back into the encounter.
It was then the ever-dangerous Williams who created Spain’s second as he cut in and fired off a strike, which Verbruggen could only palm out to the lurking Merino.
“It’s a bit sad when you concede the late goal. I don’t think we deserved it. But you know when you play with 10 men, it’s going to be difficult,” Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman told Ziggo. “We dared to take the game to Spain. We were the better team.”
Croatia contained the attacking duo of Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele, and put an early penalty miss behind them in Split to gain revenge over the side that beat them in the 2018 World Cup final.
French goalkeeper Mike Maignan saved Andrej Kramaric’s eighth-minute spot-kick but was unable to deny Ante Budimir 18 minutes later despite getting a firm touch on the forward’s close-range header following Ivan Perisic’s cross.
Veteran Perisic gave Croatia a two-goal buffer ahead of the return fixture one minute into first-half added time with a perfectly-placed right-footed volley to spoil Mbappe’s return after a six-month absence from the national team.
Mbappe tested Dominik Livakovi with several shots in the first half but the Croatia goalkeeper produced some decent saves to deny him. Both Mbappe and Dembele, the Ligue 1’s top scorer for Paris Saint-Germain, have already reached the 30-goal mark overall this season.
Mbappe, the Real Madrid star, captained Les Bleus in what was his first start for the national team since a 3-1 loss to Italy on Sept 6.
“Croatia are obviously in a better situation,” France boss Didier Deschamps told TF1. “Our first-half showing was below what we are capable of. It will be a different game (in the second leg) and we will do everything to turn it around.”
GERMANY WIN AT SAN SIRO
Captain Joshua Kimmich set up both German goals in a second-half comeback at San Siro to give his side a lead to defend in Dortmund next week.
Sandro Tonali fired Italy ahead after nine minutes after the Germany defence failed to clear a ball from the right. The Newcastle midfielder ran in and powered home with his right foot.
Despite Germany dominating ball possession, it was Italy that created genuine chances when Tonali’s scorcher tested goalkeeper Oliver Baumann in the 30th minute, moments before Moise Kean sprung the offside trap but only saw his attempt denied by Baumann again.
The visitors got back on level terms straight after the break when Kimmich assisted unmarked substitute Tim Kleindienst for a header.
Kimmich provided the same service for Goretzka in the 76th to score the winner.
“The first half was tough, we barely got into our stride,” Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said. “We adjusted a bit at halftime, and the players who came on did well.”
The winner of the tie will host the finals.
DENMARK DENY RONALDO
Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal went down 1-0 in Copenhagen to Hojlund’s 78th-minute winner with Manchester United players at the forefront for Denmark.
In the 24th, Christian Eriksen had a chance to put the Danes ahead from the penalty spot, but Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa dived to his right to save the attempt. The United midfielder had converted 12 penalties for Denmark and hadn’t missed one since 2016.
The Danes managed 23 shots in the game, with nine on target and Hojlund came off the bench to sweep home Andreas Skov Olsen’s low cross as Portugal finally cracked under sustained pressure from the home team.
Ronaldo extended his record of the number of international appearances to 218 but didn’t add to his record scoring tally of 135 international goals.
“It was our worst performance in the last two years,” Portugal coach Roberto Martinez told RTP.
UKRAINE SHOCK BELGIUM
In Nations League play-off action, Ukraine came from behind to beat visitors Belgium 3-1 in the first leg in Murcia, moving into a strong position to earn promotion to the competition’s top tier.
Romelu Lukaku handed the away side the lead five minutes before the interval but three goals in 11 second-half minutes by Oleksii Hutsuliak, Vladyslav Vanat and Illia Zabarnyi secured an excellent first-leg result for the Ukrainians.
Scotland earned a 1-0 advantage over Greece among the other League A/B playoff ties after Scott McTominay converted a first-half penalty following a foul by Lazaros Rota.
Turkey beat Hungary 3-1 in Istanbul, while Serbia held hosts Austria to a 1-1 stalemate.
In the League B/C playoffs Ireland recovered to overcome hosts Bulgaria 2-1, Kosovo beat visitors Iceland 2-1, Slovakia drew 0-0 at home to Slovenia and Georgia beat Armenia 3-0 away.
Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2025
