Cardiff, June 9 (BUS): The Netherlands beat Wales 2-1 in their second series after a thrilling late-night finish in the Nations League, sending the hosts back to Earth after securing qualification for the World Cup this weekend.
Wout Weghorst won the match for the Netherlands, scoring with a header four minutes into stoppage time, right after Wales appeared to snatch a late equaliser when Reese Norrington-Davis scored twice in stoppage time, Reuters reported.
Teun Koopmeiners opened the scoring five minutes into the second half to give the visitors the lead, after coach Louis van Gaal changed his entire squad from the team that opened their Group D campaign in Serie A with a 4-1 win over neighbors Belgium last Friday. .
Wales also rested some of their senior members of their squad after winning first place in the World Cup for the first time in 64 years when they beat Ukraine 1-0 on Sunday, allowing marginal players to claim a pick in the team heading to Qatar.
Although the team looked brighter on both sides in the first half, Wales was caught early in the second half when Kompminers found a pocket of space to shoot the net from the edge of the area with his weaker right foot after being set up by the incoming. The new Jerdy Schouten.
The Dutch had only one chance in the first 45 minutes, towards the end of the first half, when Cody Jackbo’s shot cleared a corner kick by Chris Mipham.
And before Harry Wilson, Wales player, hit the goal with a free kick, but it was shot by Dutch goalkeeper Mark Flecken.
Welshman Gareth Bale made a great appearance in the final quarter-hour, but it was Norrington-Davis who climbed up the back post to equalize.
However, almost straight from the start, Frenkie de Jong rushed forward in the start of a move that ended in Weghorst’s fall to head the net for a dramatic winner.
“It was a great counter-kick but we were choppy in the first half and had a lot of possession so we couldn’t attack,” Van Gaal told Dutch television NOS after the match. “But I kept saying we had a great team.”
Wales have now lost both games in the new Nations League season after defeat in Poland a week ago, and also saw their 19-game unbeaten home run come to an inauspicious end.
The Dutch victory on Wednesday extended the Netherlands’ record by 100% against Wales to nine games and put them at the top of the Nations League group.
The Netherlands will host Poland in Rotterdam on Saturday when Wales host Belgium.