Nations League holders Spain wanted a stoppage-time equaliser from Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino to attract 2-2 towards 10-man Netherlands.
Substitute Merino, who has been filling in as a makeshift striker for the Gunners, confirmed his eye for aim once more to steer in a leveller in added time of an entertaining recreation in Rotterdam.
The Dutch had fought again after going behind within the ninth minute with objectives from Cody Gakpo and Tijjani Reijnders however completed with 10 males after teenage defender Jorrel Hato was despatched off eight minutes from time for a studs-up problem.
Late drama in Rotterdam 🤯#NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/2Igg27OkwD
— UEFA EURO (@UEFAEURO) March 20, 2025
Spain, who had not misplaced of their earlier 21 aggressive internationals, opened the scoring by means of Nico Williams after a quick begin to the sport.
Elsewhere, Croatia’s Ante Budimir and Ivan Perisic struck to safe a deserved 2-0 win over France of their Nations League quarter-final, first leg because the return of Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele didn’t get the guests to fireside.
Croatia additionally missed an early penalty when Andrej Kramaric’s spot-kick was saved by France goalkeeper Mike Maignan, and the 2023 runners-up have been full worth for a win which may simply have been achieved by a larger margin.
France created possibilities and examined Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic a number of instances, however it was a below-par efficiency on an evening that had promised a lot with the return of Mbappe particularly after he sat out his facet’s final 4 fixtures.