Germany faced the Dutch confidently and the French prevailed over Belgium.
No chance for the Orange
The confrontation between Germany and the Netherlands could promise a spectacular and tenacious fight. But neither one nor the other worked. It felt like the opponents were representing different divisions of the Nations League, rather than battling for first place in an elite division group. Germany stifled the Netherlands’ resistance from the opening minutes and dominated throughout the match, with the exception of isolated episodes of action by the Dutch.
Of course, it can be argued that the Netherlands played without Virgil van Dijk, without Nathan Ake. But to be so inarticulate and inexpressive for such a team is unforgivable. All of Holland’s activity arose from the individual arrivals of Javi Simons and Doni Malen, when the latter came on as a substitute. And even without the normal support, they often backed themselves into a corner and did not achieve the desired effect.
Germany, on the other hand, with its updated roster looked so monolithic and convincing, as if this team had been playing for months. Indeed, those spectators who, for some reason, had not watched the matches with the participation of the German national team for a long time, would not have recognized more than half of the names. At the same time, it was precisely the footballers, whose status in the current German team already corresponded to that of the leadership, who showed themselves exactly like this. We mainly talk about Joshua Kimmich, Antonio Rudiger and Serge Gnabry. They showed character, built a combinatorial game and “glued” their partners together, creating organized pressure, from which the lazy Dutch got out at great risk to their own goal.
Separately, it is worth noting the very active full-back Maximilian Mittelstadt and winger Jamie Leveling, to whom we asked you to draw your attention earlier. And for good reason. The equalizer hit the Netherlands goal in the second minute. However, the goal was disallowed after the intervention of VAR, which saw Gnabry offside during the exchange.
Yet it was Jamie who was destined to score the winning goal. Let him score after an hour of play, after helping on the rebound. This, by the way, is indicative. The defense of the Dutch national team acted in a kind of fire mode throughout the match. She was incredibly lucky that the case didn’t end in disaster. Because this type of defensive football certainly cannot be defined as planned. These were desperate rescue attempts every time Germany launched an attack. It is assumed that a good defense will simply prevent the opponent from wandering into their penalty area. And we can celebrate the heroism of Stefan de Vrij, who threw himself under the blows, but it would be better for him and his associates not to allow such critical situations. And they appeared regularly.
As a result, during the match the Netherlands made only three shots at the opponent’s goal, hitting the target once. Of course, even with such statistics, the Dutch could have avoided defeat. Because in one of the cases, goalkeeper Oliver Baumann, making his debut for the national team, saved brilliantly after a shot from Malen. And in another case, Simons hit the crossbar. But this would be completely unfair to the German team, who made 13 lateral shots and hit the target five times.
Now Germany’s entry into the playoffs from first place seems like a done deal, because the gap over the Netherlands with two rounds to go is five points. And at this time Hungary caught up with the Dutch. So Ronald Koeman’s players must somehow try to remember how to play defense without panic and confidently in attack.
Different halves
The search for the Belgian and French teams continues. Here they examined each other face to face. With Domenico Tedesco in the Belgian national team the position had been shaking for some time, and this match shook it up even more. Didier Deschamps feels more confident at the helm of the French national team, even if there is a certain pressure from public opinion, because the idea that his football is now exhausted is becoming more and more popular and the team needs a change of coach.
But Deschamps continues to work and is already building a new team, which does not include his lifesaver Antoine Griezmann. And Kylian Mbappe wasn’t in this match yet. But the coach found an option in attack, directly copying the trio PSG. In the end the idea worked. Even if not right away.
The entire first half was left to the Belgians. They should have opened the scoring when midway through the second half Loi Openda was awarded a penalty, almost one-on-one, cut down by William Saliba. But Youri Tielemans failed to hit the target from the spot. A few minutes later the penalty was awarded for another goal. For some reason, it was Wout Fas who played with his hand in his own penalty area and fell. And Randal Kolo Muani did not repeat Tielemans’ mistake and gave France the lead.
If the French had maintained their lead at the end of the first half, this too would have felt like an injustice. However, they generally acted passively, while Belgium attacked more and created chances more often. Just before half-time, Openda finally completed Timothy Castagne’s cross and leveled the score.
One would have expected Belgium to continue pressing after the break. But the experience of Deschamps and his team had an impact. France came out more collected in the second half and the fight became a draw. And after an hour of play, Kolo Muani scored a brace, finishing Digne’s cross. The last minutes of the match became difficult for France. In the 76th minute, the visitors were left in the minority as Aurélien Tchouameni, who led the team on the pitch as captain, was sent off for a second yellow card.
By the way, Deschamps might not have taken such a risk. In the first half alone, three out of four defenders and key midfielder Chuameni received yellow cards. But the coach didn’t change any of them, even though it was clear that after Kolo Muani’s second goal, Belgium’s pressure would increase and with it the risk of being sent off. And so it happened. But the French were lucky because the hosts were unable to slow down, despite impressive statistics in the form of 20 shots on target, including seven on target. The French have only 14 attempts and four accurate ones.
France’s passage to the playoffs is now no longer in danger. Let it be from second place. Because Italy is in the lead, having defeated Israel in this round (4:1). France is one point behind, but Belgium is now five points behind the French. This leaves her in third place and Tedesco will soon be out of a job.
