After starting their latest UEFA Nations League campaign with a thoroughly entertaining 5-2 victory over Bosnia & Herzegovina on Saturday night, the difficulty level is set to exponentially increase for the Netherlands here as fierce rivals Germany visit Johan Cruijff Arena.<\/p>\n
The headline team news from the weekend saw Ronald Koeman hand Joshua Zirkzee his first-ever international start; well, it took the new Manchester United forward just 13 minutes to repay his manager’s faith, breaking the deadlock at Philips Stadion with an impudent header.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, the line-up was largely the same as it was throughout the Euros except at centre-back where Matthijs de Ligt partnered captain Virgil van Dijk, in Stefan de Vrij’s absence.<\/p>\n
Read More:\u00a0<\/strong>Top Three Biggest Upsets in Copa Am\u00e9rica History<\/a><\/p>\n All of the front four who started in Eindhoven got on the scoresheet, as did Wout Weghorst, although he’s likely to remain amongst the substitutes.<\/p>\n Lastly, both Jurri\u00ebn Timber and Quinten Timber came off the bench late on, becoming the eighth pair of brothers to play together for the Netherlands.<\/p>\n Frank and Ronald De Boer, Erwin and Ronald Koeman, Willy and Ren\u00e9 van de Kerkhof, Rob and Richard Witschge, Gerard and Wim Tap, Tonny and D\u00e9 Kessler as well as Jacques and Mannes Francken are the brothers to have done so previously, in case you were wondering!<\/p>\n Friday’s hammering of Bosnia continued an impressive 2024 for the Netherlands, having reached the European Championship semi-finals during the summer, ousting both Romania and T\u00fcrkiye, before a heartbreaking, last-gasp 2-1 defeat to England at Westfalenstadion.<\/p>\n In the context of this group, the Dutch, who were Nations League semi-finalists as recently as last year, must finish either first or second to keep alive their hopes of winning the competition for the very first time.<\/p>\nNetherlands\u2019 Recent Form and Tactics<\/span><\/h3>\n