Netherlands fight back to draw against England

New Delhi: An interesting friendly between Netherlands and England ended in a fully deserved draw.

The home side took an early lead via Dirk Kuyt and England were unable to draw things even before the break, despite dominating play for most of the first half.

Rafael van der Vaart made things even worse for the Three Lions about ten minutes before the interval after taking advantage from yet again sloppy play from England to make it 2-0.

The English made a brilliant start to the second half and Jermaine Defoe pegged one back for the Three Lions only minutes after the break after a quick counter attack.

The Dutch defender were unable to get a grip on Defoe in the second half and the Tottenham Hotspur scored the 2-2 after a perfect cross from James Milner.

First Half

The Dutch started the match with attacking intention, but England winger David Beckham was responsible for the first dangerous situation of the match when he swung in a free kick after only two minutes. However, his cross was headed in to safety by the Dutch defence without too much trouble.

A bad back pass from Andre Ooijer almost caused a difficult situation for Holland goalie Maarten Stekelenburg, but the Ajax shot stopper cleared the ball before Wayne Rooney got to it.

Rio Ferdinand didn’t learn from Ooijer’s sloppy passing and the towering defender was unlucky to see Dirk Kuyt pick up his back pass before Robert Green was able to meet it. The Dutch striker had no trouble going by the England goalie before firing home from close range in the tenth minute. Johnson was almost able to repair Ferdinand’s fault, but he came just too late to prevent the opener.

The guests got a chance to level the score only three minutes after the 1-0. Gareth Barry sent in a nice cross from the left wing to reach Beckham. The latter was unable to get his header on target though and the chance went begging.

Stekelenburg prevented the equalizer with a superb save eighteen minutes in to the game. Glenn Johnson set up Frank Lampard inside the area with an intelligent through pass, but the Chelsea midfielder failed to beat the Dutch goalie from a difficult angle.

Yet again Lampard should have made it 1-1 halfway the first half. Beckham was quick to send in a free kick from the right and Lampard beat his man to the ball to get a great chance. However, he didn’t manage to get his foot to it as he should have and Stekelenburg picked up the loose ball.

England screamed for a spot kick after 25 minutes when Barry back-heeled the ball against the arm of Nigel de Jong. The referee wanted none of it though and waved play on.

Ashley Young picked up a loose ball around the half hour mark and opted to test the Dutch glovesman from long range. Stekelenburg wasn’t impressed though, as Young’s right footed attempt turned out to be harmless.

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Kuyt almost doubled his tally at the half hour mark after a free kick from Rafael van der Vaart. The Liverpool striker was left totally unmarked at the far post, but Green pulled off a superb save to deny the dynamic forward.

Green gifted Robben possession with a sloppy pass only minutes later and the latter unleashed a ferocious drive that was only just kept out by the goalie. The tricky winger should have passed to Kuyt though, as the striker was waiting to tap home from close range.

The England players were clearly not focused enough for the game as Barry showed yet another sloppy back pass after 37 minutes. Robben picked up the ball, but was denied by Green. The rebound ended up in the feet of Van der Vaart though and the Madrid playmaker slotted home with ease.

Wayne Rooney was desperate to peg one back before the interval and tried his luck from about twenty-five yards. Nevertheless, Stekelenburg wasn’t troubled by the effort. Heskey set up Rooney for another try in the dying seconds of the first half, but his powerful effort went inches wide of the Dutch goal.

Second Half

Both coaches made a number of changes at half-time, but this certainly didn’t slow down the pace of the game. Jermaine Defoe came off the bench to take the place of Emile Heskey and the Tottenham striker needed only three minutes to add his name to the score sheet. Lampard set up Defoe and the latter calmly fired home after beating the offside trap.

Defoe went on to cause the Dutch defence all kinds of trouble as he almost levelled the score after 54 minutes. The quick attacker dribbled inside the area before aiming a cross toward Wayne Rooney at the far post, which was cleared by John Heitinga only yards from his own line.

Wesley Sneijder gained possession in England's half at the hour mark before setting up Ryan Babel, who replaced Van Persie halfway. Babel tried his luck from long range, but the Liverpool forward was unable to get his shot on target.

Substitue James Milner sent in a beautiful right footed cross from the left wing to set up Jermain Defoe after 70 minutes. The scorer of the 2-1 managed to get his head to the ball, but his attempt sailed over the crossbar.

West Ham United forward Carlton Cole proved to be more than just a big target man only minutes after Defoe's header. Cole controlled the ball with his right foot before unleashing a volleyed shot with his left that went only inches wide.

James Milner beat John Heitinga to the ball on the left wing after 75 minutes before sending in a pin point cross toward Defoe, who had no trouble finding the empty net from close range to level the score.

Carlton Cole came close to gifting England the lead in the dying minutes of the game. The striker beat Joris Mathijsen to the ball after a corner kick, but his header went inches wide of the Dutch goal.

The referee awarded the Oranje a free kick in a dangerous position after a reckless challenge from Johnson on Babel. Sneijder stepped up to test the English goalie, but his shot bounced off the wall for a corner.