Paris (AFP)

The Netherlands, by beating Poland (1-0) on Friday night, started their journey in League A of the 2nd UEFA Nations League better than Italy, unable to do better than a draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina (1-1).

For the first match as coach of Dwight Lodeweges, eternal assistant appointed urgently following the departure of Ronald Koeman from FC Barcelona, ​​the young Batavians, around Memphis Depay as playmaker, very mobile and very lively, did not have need to strain their talent too much.

The first goal in Oranje by Steven Bergwijn (61st), the Tottenham striker, on the hour mark, reassured this "more than promising generation", in the words of Lodeweges taking control of the selection.

Also with Frenkie De Jong (Barcelona), whose shot hit the Polish post just before the break, and Virgil Van Dijk (Liverpool), very comfortable as often, the Dutch selection has indeed shown great promise.

For the last quarter of an hour, Donny van de Beek, recruited this summer by Manchester United, came into play but the Polish defense held up well.

As for the Italians, the arrival of the Bosnians, promoted to League A, was an opportunity to be seized for the men of Roberto Mancini, who had just strung together 11 consecutive victories.

This series was interrupted, firstly because of Edin Dzeko, the star striker of AS Roma, who opened the scoring for the Bosnians (57th), on a corner, and encouraged the Italians to raise their level of Game.

Immediate consequence, ten minutes later, the equalizer of Sensi (67th), well served by Insigne, on a shot deflected by a Bosnian defender.

Then nothing more concrete on the scoreboard, as a top game looms against the Netherlands, unfortunate finalists of the Premier League of Nations.

In the other matches of this evening without big surprises, Austria went to win in Norway (2-1) while Romania and Northern Ireland drew (1-1), in Group 1 of the League B.

In Group 2 of this League B, the Czech Republic, in search of its past glory, won in Slovakia (3-1), while Israel went to seek a draw in Scotland (1-1).

© 2020 AFP