&w=1024&resize=1024,0&ssl=1 "UEFA Nations League highlights: Germany 2-1, Hungary defeat Dutch | football news")
Germany's reconstruction appears to be on the right track
Denis Undav scored twice as the four-time world champions won the three-match Nations League 2-1 win in Bosnia-Herzegovina on Friday.
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Reduced to 10 men, the Netherlands drew 1-1 with Hungary.
After the retirements of Manuel Neuer and Toni Kroos, Germany began a new cycle and their clean and fluid performance against a lively Bosnia bodes well for the future.
The Germans topped the group with a 5-0 win over Hungary and a 2-2 draw with the Netherlands.
Lacking much determination, the Germans played with confidence, creating intricate attacking moves and giving the impression of having fun. They had many chances to score more and two goals were disallowed for offside.
“I knew Bosnia and Herzegovina were good defensively, but you have to remember that we had a lot of chances,” said Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann. Because of this, Bosnia and Herzegovina remained in the game.
The only downside was a defensive error when Hungarian Edin Dzeko pulled one back with 20 minutes remaining.
The visitors took the lead in the 30th minute, after a clever play by Florian Wirtz. The unmarked midfielder received a high pass in the box and instead of trying his luck he made an unexpected back pass to Undav, who finished calmly.
Undav, who made his Germany debut with a goal against the Netherlands, was clinical on Friday.
His Stuttgart team-mate Maximilian Mittelstudt produced a superb cross six minutes later and Undav scored from close range to extend Germany's lead.
Another Stuttgart player, Bosnia's Ermedin Demirovic, hit the post in the 35th minute, but Dzeko headed in a corner in the 70th, his 67th goal for the national team.
Netherlands occupied by Hungary
The Dutch's unbeaten run almost came to an end at the Puskas Arena.
The Netherlands have won the last nine meetings with Hungary and had most of the possession in the first half. But he was unable to break through the robust Hungarian defense. Roland Sallai put the hosts in command after 32 minutes with a close-range finish from Josolt Nagy's cross.
The Dutch had a terrible night when defender Virgil van Dijk was sent off for a second yellow card, but Denzel Dumfries secured a point for the visitors with a header from a Cody Gakpo free kick in the 83rd minute.
“Even with 10 players we try to press,” said Dutch coach Ronald Koeman. My thought was: let's score. If you're a man down, you're relieved that you're still (last) 1-1.
Germany opened up a two-point lead over Group A leaders the Netherlands. Hungary came third, ahead of Bosnia.
Ukraine beat Georgia 1-0
Georgia ended Ukraine's unbeaten run in Group 'B'.
Georgia, the surprise surprise of this year's European Championship, won their first two games and topped their group despite the defeat. Mykhailo Mudryk scored the winning goal for Ukraine, giving the war-torn country its first point of the tournament.
The Czech Republic beat Albania 2-0.
Other results
Iceland drew 2-2 with Wales, overcoming a two-goal deficit. Brennan Johnson scored for the seventh consecutive game for club and country as the Tottenham winger won Wales' first game. Türkiye beat Montenegro 1-0 in the other Group B4 game. In League C, Estonia beat Azerbaijan 3-1 and Sweden drew 2-2 with Slovakia.
(Only the title and image for this report may have been reworked by the Business Standards team; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a distributed feed.)
