Sportstar·India·Friday, September 25, 2026 at 03:24 AM

Netherlands vs Germany player ratings — Klopp, Xavi tenure begin with draw after late Gakpo equaliser

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Former Liverpool manager Klopp, who took charge of Germany in July following its shock early World ⁠Cup exit following defeat against Paraguay, looked to have made a winning start before Gakpo rounded off a quick counter-attack.

Updated : Sep 25, 2026 08:54 IST , Amsterdam - 3 MINS READ

Gakpo (right) scored a volley to help Netherlands snatch a draw. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Gakpo (right) scored a volley to help Netherlands snatch a draw. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Cody Gakpo’s stoppage-time equaliser helped Netherlands salvage a 1-1 draw against ‌Germany in its Nations League Group A2 opener on Thursday, denying new coach Jurgen Klopp a winning start.

Former Liverpool manager Klopp, who took charge of Germany in July following its shock early World ⁠Cup exit following defeat against Paraguay, looked to have made a winning start before Gakpo rounded off a quick counter-attack.

That gave new Netherlands coach, Xavi Hernandez, appointed in August after Ronald Koeman stepped down following its World Cup round of 32 elimination, something to smile about.

Xavi ‌is the first foreigner in charge of the Dutch national team since the 1978 World Cup.

“We have to accept the result,” Klopp said. “Even though I badly wanted to win I take the draw.”

“I was ‌very, very, very pleased with a lot of the individual performances. Overall, I was very happy with the passion ‌we ⁠showed. We can play better and play more football, that’s for sure,” he said.

The Germans got bad ⁠news before the start with playmaker Jamal Musiala ruled out after feeling muscle pain during the warm-up, but they still made a high-tempo start.

Germany was left stunned in the 13th minute when Dutch captain Virgil van Dijk headed in from a corner but his effort was overruled by VAR for a foul on Germany keeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen.

Things got worse for Klopp’s team when forward Kai Havertz was taken off injured in the 30th, but the visitor took the lead two minutes later with Felix Nmecha slotting in from close range.

Karim Adeyemi should have scored again but he somehow missed the target from five metres out.

The Dutch upped the pressure after the break and repeatedly came ‌close to an equaliser with Ter Stegen making several good saves.

But Netherlands’ dominance finally paid off with Gakpo’s late strike.

“We deserved at least a point,” van Dijk said. “We played well at times.. but after only three days working it was a good performance.”

PLAYER RATINGS

Netherlands: Virgil van Dijk (5.3), Cody Gakpo (7.0), Jan Paul van Hecke (6.7), Crysencio Summerville (6.8), Denzel Dumfries (7.2), Ryan Gravenberch (7.1), Quinten Timber (6.0), Brian Brobbey (5.6), Mickey van de Ven (6.4), Tijjani Rejinders (7.0)

Subs: Guus Til (5.9), Mexx Meerdink (6.3), Joey Veerman (6.7), Ruben van Bommel (7.2)

Germany: Felix Nmecha (7.5), Kai Havertz (6.5), Nico Schlotterbeck (6.4), Jonathan Tah (6.4), Kevin Schade (6.3), Joshua Kimmich (6.3), Philipp Treu (6.2), Nathaniel Brown (5.7), Nadiem Amiri (5.0), Marc-Andre Ter Stegen (6.1)

Subs: Yannik Engelhardt (5.4), Anton Stach (5.7), Serge Gnabry (5.4), Younes Ebnotalib (5.4), Chris Fuhrich (5.4)

(With inputs from Reuters)

Published on Sep 25, 2026

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