Khakpo saves the Netherlands from losing to Germany in the European Nations League

Liverpool's English striker, Cody Khakpo, saved his Dutch national team, led by its new Spanish coach, Xavi, from losing to Germany and its new coach, Jurgen Klopp, after equalizing 1-1 in stoppage time, Thursday, in Amsterdam, in the first round of the second round of the first-level group in the European Nations League.

Germany opened the scoring through Felix Nmecha in the 32nd minute, before Khakpo gave the hosts a draw in the second minute of stoppage time (90+2).

The two teams renewed one of the most prominent traditional rivalries in European football, at the beginning of a new phase for both of them after their exit from the round of 16 of the North American World Cup.

Former Barcelona star Xavi took over as coach of the Dutch national team, succeeding Ronald Koeman, after the "Windmills" were eliminated from the World Cup by Morocco.

On the other hand, Klopp returned to training for the first time since his departure from Liverpool, succeeding Julian Nagelsmann, following Germany's disappointing exit from the World Cup against Paraguay.

After a disappointing end to the World Cup, the German team was unable to win for the third match in a row for the first time since a series of four matches that ended in September 2025.

This draw is the nineteenth in the history of the two teams’ confrontations, compared to 18 victories for Germany and 12 for the Netherlands.

The Netherlands was the first to score through its captain and Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk, who scored with a header following a corner kick taken by Saudi Al-Qadisiyah midfielder Tijani Reynders in the 12th minute, but the goal was canceled after returning to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), due to an error committed by English Sunderland striker Brian Proby against goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Germany suffered a blow with the injury of Arsenal striker Kai Havertz, who was replaced by Eintracht Frankfurt striker Younes Ibn Talib in the 30th minute.

Ibn Talib, who chose to represent the German national team at the expense of his country of origin, Morocco, almost opened the scoring one minute after entering, but goalkeeper Bart Verbruchen blocked his powerful shot.

Germany succeeded in opening the scoring in the 32nd minute, following a cross from Freiburg defender Philippe Trouw. Barcelona winger Karim Adeyemi failed to follow it after the intervention of defender Jan-Paul van Hecke, and it was prepared for Borussia Dortmund midfielder Felix Nemecha, who put it into the net from close range.

The Dutch players protested strongly against the Germans continuing to attack and not releasing the ball despite Brobbie falling injured as a result of an intervention by Jonathan Tah in the middle of the field, but to no avail.

Xavi was then forced to replace Robbie, and brought on Mix Meerdink in the 35th minute.

In the second half, the Netherlands intensified its attempts to come back, the most notable of which was Meerdink's shot, which was deflected by Ter Stegen into a corner kick in the 76th minute.

When Germany seemed on their way to getting the three points, Khakpo succeeded in snatching the equalizer in the 90+2 minute, benefiting from a pass from substitute Robin van Bommel, the son of former Dutch international midfielder Mark van Bommel, who is currently coaching the Belgian national team.

In the same group, Greece snatched a fatal victory from its host Serbia 2-1.

Serbia opened the scoring early through Andrea Zivkovic in the fourth minute following a pass from Dusan Tadic, before Christos Tsoulis equalized for Greece in the 74th minute, benefiting from a pass from Vangelis Pavlidis.

In the fifth minute of stoppage time, substitute Anastasios Dovikas, the Italian Como striker, scored the winning goal for the Greek national team.