Hosts look Full of hope as Nic fires out warning
GERMANY ........ 2
NETHERLANDS..1
Niclas Fullkrug came off the bench to hand the Euro 2024 hosts a moralebooster against their old rivals in Frankfurt.
And there were plenty of warnings for scotland as germany dug deep to come from behind to win.
Steve Clarke’s men face an almighty challenge in the group a opener on June 14, but they’ll have taken heart from the Dutch side’s quick start.
The Netherlands were quickest out of the blocks Joey Veerman firing home from close range after Memphis Depay had taken advantage of some sloppy german defending.
Less comforting for the scots will be the reply from Julian Nagelsmann’s men who tied it up in 11 minutes.
A short corner caused the Dutch problems and the ball was rolled back perfectly by Jamal Musiala for Maximilian Mittelstadt and the stuttgart left back fired in a brilliant effort from 25 yards for a goal in just his second start.
The Dutch, fresh from their own 4-0 thumping of the men in dark blue, didn’t shrink with Donyell Malen testing Marc-andre ter stegen before having another effort blocked.
The Borussia Dortmund man was at it again after the restart, stinging the palms of ter stegen from the edge of the area.
Tijjani reijnders blazed over after more great build-up play by Malen and Depay, who combined to almost devastating effect on the hour.
But Depay failed to keep his shot down after Malen had drawn out ter stegen.
With five minutes to go, germany snatched it with a controversial winner when Fullkrug’s header was judged to have crossed the line despite the Dutch team’s desperate protests.