Holland 1 Germany 2: match report The Germans were unchanged, despite the temptation for Low to re-call, Miroslav Klose, who scored one and made two in the 3-0 destruction of the Dutch in Hamburg in November. Just as it had against Portugal, the German coach's belief in Gómez was rewarded. With 24 minutes gone, Mats Hummels swept a pass out to Thomas Muller on the right flank. The Bayern forward cut infield on a diagonal at pace and squared to Schweinsteiger, who threaded a pass through the middle to Gómez. The big Germany dragged the ball around with his left-foot as he spun to face goal and then slotted past Maarten Stekelenberg with his right. The Dutch had actually dominated possession until then and Van Persie had missed two good chances, the first from Mark van Bommel's ball over the top and the second after he had been put through by Arjen Robben. The Germans, though, had given plenty of evidence of how dangerous they were: when a Dutch clearance dropped to Mesut Ozil, the Real Madrid playmaker struck a crisp shot against the base of the post, the ball rebound luckily to Stekelenberg. The goal had killed the Dutch momentum and Germany started to probe their weaknesses, foremost among them 18-year-old left-back Jetro Willems. Muller was mercilessly running in behind him and had the inexperienced PSV player rattled. Willems fouled him near the by-line and from Ozil's free kick Holger Badstuber sent a free header straight at Stekelenberg. The second goal again came from the German right flank.. From a deep Manuel Neuer kick Muller beat Willems in the air, his flick going to Gómez. The Bayern striker then worked the ball to Ozil who passed to Schweinsteiger, whose pass was perfectly weight for Gómez to strike. He hit it hard enough but the angle was tricky. Stekelenberg inexplicably went down early though and could only watch as the ball went over him and into the net. The Dutch were falling apart and needed radical changes. Van Marwijk did not waste any time, immediately instructing Van der Vaart and Huntelaar to spend half-time warming up. That he took off the anonymous Ibrahim Afellay was predictable; that he hooked Van Bommel, his captain and son-in-law, instead of Nigel de Jong was a surprise. Yet even with a more expansive line-up, when Holland presserd forward, they met resolute German resistance. Neuer was down sharply to stop a Van Persie first-time shot from the edge of the area and, lead by the excellent Hummels, the German defence was making short work of breaking up Orange attacks. Hummels even drove forward and had a shot at goal himself. When Klose finally came on for Gómez, it felt like the end. Holland were not finished, though. Sneijder had twice gone close, the first a curling effort from range and the second brilliantly blocked by Jerome Boateng, when Van Persie pulled a goal back. The Arsenal man turned and sprinted towards the box and hit a clean, right-footed strike between Badstuber's legs and past Neuer. It provoked a spirited finish but nothing more.