Late heroics helped desperate Netherlands and Wales to big wins in their quests for a place at EURO 2020.
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Germany 2-4 Netherlands
The Dutch sure can rally.
In a EURO qualifier which could almost be described as must-win, Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands erased a 1-0 lead and overcame a late equalizer to beat Joachim Low’s Germany 4-2 in Hamburg on Friday.
Serge Gnabry’s ninth minute goal gave Germany a lead it would take into the break, but Frenkie de Jong scored in the 59th before Ryan Babel helped force an own goal out of Jonathan Tah.
Donyell Malen blasted a close range shot home six minutes after Toni Kroos scored a penalty to restore the deadlock. Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool) put the match to bed in stoppage time.
The Netherlands entered the match with three points from two matches, but had already lost to Germany in its home fixture and was staring up at a Northern Ireland team which is 4-0 to start qualifying. Germany entered the day 3-0.
9’ - Germany 1-0 Netherlands
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 6, 2019
59’ – Germany 1-1 Netherlands
66’ – Germany 1-2 Netherlands
73’ – Germany 2-2 Netherlands
79’ – Germany 2-3 Netherlands
This game ... 🤯 pic.twitter.com/pEEvmlhWGk
Wales 2-1 Azerbaijan
However tumultuous his past few seasons have been, Gareth Bale remains an absolute baller.
Bale scored in the 84th minute against stingy Azerbaijan to boost the Welsh to three points and a spot in crazy deep Group E. Croatia and Hungary have nine points, while Slovakia and Wales now have six. A draw would’ve been good for Azerbaijan’s first point of qualifying
Elsewhere
Estonia 1-2 Belarus
Cyprus 1-1 Kazakhstan
Slovakia 0-4 Croatia
Austria 6-0 Latvia
Scotland 1-2 Russia
Slovenia 2-0 Poland
San Marino 0-4 Belgium