Nico stars for Spain; Germany, Denmark, Croatia win in Nations League
Madrid: Nico Williams helped Spain to a 2-2 draw away to the Netherlands in a thrilling UEFA Nations League quarterfinal first leg match the athletic Bilbao forward opened the scoring for his side and then had a big role in a late equaliser
Spain took the lead in the ninth minute when high pressure saw Jorrel Hato robbed high up the pitch by Lamine Yamal, who connected with Pedri. The Barcelona midfielder slid the ball in for Williams to turn and beat goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen from around six meters out.
Cody Gakpo levelled for the Netherlands in the 28th minute after the ball came to him on the left of the Spain penalty area, reports Xinhua.
Spain lost defender Pau Cubarsi to injury after 40 minutes, with 19-year-old Dean Huijsen, who was born in Amsterdam but brought up in Spain, making his debut.
The Netherlands almost took the lead when Tijjani Reijnders’ volley brushed the top of the crossbar.
Less than a minute into the second half, the Netherlands took the lead after the impressive Jeremie Frimpong left Marc Cucurella for pace and pulled the ball back for the unmarked Reijnders to place his shot beyond the reach of goalkeeper Unai Simon.
De la Fuente brought Dani Olmo, Ayoze Perez and Mikel Oyarzabal on for Yamal, Pedri and Alvaro Morata, and they gave Spain more stability, although Perez saw a yellow card which means he is suspended for Sunday’s return leg in Valencia.
Hato’s late challenge on Robin Le Normand left the Netherlands to defend the last 10 minutes with a player less, and Spain leveled in the 93rd minute after more magic from Williams, who cut inside and produced a shot that Verbruggen could only parry to the feet of Mikel Merino.
Elsewhere, Germany fought back from a goal down to claim a valuable 2-1 win away to Italy.
Sandro Tonali fired Italy ahead after nine minutes after the Germany defense failed to clear a ball from the right. The Newcastle midfielder ran in and powered home with his right foot.
Despite Germany dominating ball possession, it was Italy that created genuine chances when Tonali’s scorcher tested goalkeeper Oliver Baumann in the 30th minute, moments before Moise Kean sprung the offside trap but only saw his attempt denied by Baumann again.
The visitors got back on level terms straight after the break when Joshua Kimmich assisted unmarked substitute Tim Kleindienst for a header.
Kimmich was the provider again for Leon Goretzka to put Germany ahead in the 76th minute.
Croatia won 2-0 at home to France, despite Andrej Kramaric seeing an eighth-minute penalty saved by Mike Maignan, before Ante Budimir put the home side ahead after 26 minutes with a close-range header following Ivan Perisic’s cross.
Perisic doubled Croatia’s lead with a right-foot shot on the stroke of halftime.
Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund scored a 78th-minute winner as Denmark took a narrow but deserved 1-0 win at home to Portugal. The Danes managed 23 shots in the game, with nine on target and saw Christian Eriksen miss a first-half penalty, while Portugal only worked home goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel twice in the game.