“For another 100 years it will still be a misunderstanding that spectators expect the ball to be put out of play,” Klopp told RTL. The flashpoint came when Dutch centre-forward Brian Brobbey went down injured, but Germany kept going and did not put the ball out despite Oranje being a man down. The move ended with Felix Nmecha making it 1-0 in the 32nd minute.
“But the lads are basically instructed to keep playing,” Klopp explained, insisting Joshua Kimmich and co. had not acted without fair play by carrying on. His opposite number, the new Bondscoach Xavi, saw “a mixture” of cleverness and a lack of fair play from the DFB team.
Xavi also dragged in the referee, his Spanish compatriot Alejandro Jose Hernandez Hernandez: “The referee had already put the whistle to his mouth and a few of our players stopped playing because of that,” he complained, while also stressing: “It was no big deal either.”
Former Netherlands international Rafael van der Vaart took a far stronger line, telling TV broadcaster NOS that Germany playing on was “unsporting”. Kimmich, though, gave a matter-of-fact verdict: “We were absolutely right to keep playing.” Stopping the game may have been the referee’s job, the Bayern star said, “and I didn’t hear a whistle.”
Kimmich also hit back firmly at Oranje captain Virgil van Dijk’s claim that Germany’s decision to play on had been a disgrace: “I think that is not a considered response from him.”
DFB team: what is the latest on Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala?
Shortly before Nmecha’s opener, Klopp had to take off Kai Havertz, whose back thigh was twinging. Jamal Musiala, who had been due to start, was unable to feature at all after muscular problems in the warm-up: “They are both having MRI scans, I hope we still get a diagnosis this evening,” the new Germany head coach said after the final whistle. He did not expect to have either player available for Sunday’s upcoming match against Greece: “I hope it is nothing serious. For us they are probably out, but hopefully they will be available again quickly after that.”
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Germany’s slim lead lasted until the closing stages, but in stoppage time the Netherlands finally got their deserved equaliser through Cody Gakpo. Substitute Ruben van Bommel, son of former Bayern star Mark van Bommel, supplied the standout assist with a superb trivela cross. “I asked little van Bommel where he got that from,” Klopp revealed, before joking about his father: “He didn’t get it from his father, that outside-of-the-boot strike must come from his mother.”
Why was Virgil van Dijk’s goal for the Netherlands ruled out?
Another incident caused just as much debate as Germany’s opener. After just under a quarter of an hour, defensive leader van Dijk seemed to have headed the Netherlands in front from a corner. However, the goal was ruled out after a VAR intervention because, in the referee’s view, Oranje attacker Brobbey had illegally stopped German goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen from coming off his line in the six-yard box, a harsh decision.
“It is an absolute disgrace,” fumed van der Vaart. “It is unbelievable,” because Brobbey was “barely doing anything. Of course you are allowed to make contact. The goalkeeper cannot do whatever he wants. It was simply very weak goalkeeping,” said van der Vaart. Klopp disagreed and pointed to Brobbey’s enormous robustness: “He is almost square and Marc has no chance of getting past him. It is a great corner, but it is a foul. That is how it has to be given now,” Klopp said, referring to the fact that goalkeepers had recently again enjoyed greater protection in the six-yard box at the World Cup.
Jonathan Tah gave his verdict on Klopp’s first game in charge: “Of course we would have liked to win, there were chances at both ends. But when you are 1-0 up, you want to get it over the line. We took a good first step, the game was brutally intense. Not everything was perfect, but that was not what it was about. We want to start showing a different face on the pitch. And today was the first step towards that.” The centre-back also reserved special praise for SC Freiburg right-back Philipp Treu, who made his international debut: “I would like to highlight Pippo. The way he marched up and down the line was incredible. Really top for a first international,” said Tah.
On Sunday, Germany face Greece on matchday two of the 2026/27 Nations League season, and Klopp will celebrate his home debut on the national team’s bench in Augsburg. “The focus was very much on defending and the press, on how we want to put the opponent under pressure,” Kimmich said of the first training sessions under Klopp. “It was about finding a certain basic shape without the ball. That is then the basis for us to improve with the ball as well.”