Nations League: Germany, Netherlands have it easy

LONDON: Germany dismantled visitors Bosnia and Herzegovina 7-0 on Saturday with a statement win and two goals apiece from Florian Wirtz and Tim Kleindienst to secure top spot in their Nations League group A3 with a game to spare.

The Germans, who had already qualified for next year’s quarter-finals of the competition, are on 13 points with Netherlands in second place on eight, and are eager to re-establish themselves as an international force ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

Germany, travelling to Budapest to face Hungary on Tuesday for their last group match, took the lead with in-form Jamal Musiala’s looping header after only 90 seconds.

The Bayern Munich attacking midfielder has now scored in his third consecutive game for club and country.

Everything seemed to be working seamlessly for the hosts and they doubled it with striker Kleindienst’s first Germany goal in the 23rd minute after he turned in Robert Andrich’s shot.

Kai Havertz twice came close in an explosive first half before getting on the scoresheet in the 37th after a quick one-two with Wirtz, who bagged Germany’s fourth goal five minutes after the restart with a dipping free kick that caught Bosnia goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj off guard.

With Bosnia’s defence in complete disarray and unable to handle their opponents’ speed, the hosts showed no signs of easing off and kept pouring forward.

Wirtz tapped in at the far post in the 57th for his second goal of the evening before substitute Leroy Sane made it half a dozen goals for Germany nine minutes later.

The Bosnians’ misery was complete in the 79th when Kleindienst slid in to make it 7-0.

Two first half penalties and two quality strikes in the second half handed the Netherlands a 4-0 win over Hungary and a place in the Nations League quarter-finals in March as they guaranteed themselves a top two finish in Group A3.

Wout Weghorst and Cody Gakpo both scored from the spot while Denzel Dumfries and the returning Teun Koopmeiners added two more after the break.

The game at the Johan Cruyff Stadium was halted after seven minutes when Hungary assistant coach Adam Szalai suffered what looked to be a seizure on the bench.

His legs could be seen kicking as he lay on the ground, quickly surrounded by staff members and substitutes.

It led to a 13-minute stoppage while he was being treated and it was only after a discussion among the players on the field that the Hungary team agreed to play on.

But they had to face a penalty immediately as a VAR check found that defender Tamas Nikitscher had handled the ball trying to clear a Gakpo cross in the last action before the game was halted.

Weghorst tucked the ball away to give the Dutch the lead and they won a second penalty in stoppage time at the end of the first half when Donyell Malen was tripped by Zsolt Nagy.

The Hungary goalkeeper made several excellent stops in the first half to keep the score down to only 2-0, notably tipping Tijjani Reijnders’ goal-bound header over the bar.

But in the 64th minute, there was little he could do as Dumfries laced a volleyed shot into the net from an angle after a half clearance fell to him unmarked on the right of the attack.

The Dutch looked a lot more fluent with influential midfielder Frenkie de Jong back in the team for the first time in 13 months after his lengthy ankle injury, which ruled him out of the European Championship in Germany earlier this year.

Koopmeiners was also back for the first time since suffering a groin injury ahead of Euro 2024 and celebrated with a quality header in the 85th minute.

The Netherlands advanced to eight points in the standings, five behind Germany on 13 after their thrashing of Bosnia and Herzegovina 7-0 in Freiburg. Agencies

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