Stalemate between Netherlands and Germany

A crowd of 51,000 turned up to see the Netherlands take on Germany at the Amsterdam ArenA, but there were to be no goals between the neighbours.

Oranje coach Louis van Gaal was eager to test his side against top-class opposition, and they came close to making the breakthrough when Ibrahim Afellay's ball sent Arjen Robben through on goal. However, while he rounded his FC Bayern München team-mate Manuel Neuer in the Germany goal, Robben slipped while trying to shoot and the chance came to nothing.

At the other end, debutant goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer fended away a Mario Götze shot, Marco Reus found the side netting and John Heitinga hooked Ilkay Gündogan's effort on the goal line, having blocked a Götze strike five minutes earlier.

It was the Oranje's substitutes who come closest in the second half to earning the Netherlands their first win against Germany since 2002.  Feyenoord left-back Daryl Janmaat exchanged passes with captain Dirk Kuyt before firing a shot that Neuer fielded, and Eljero Elia scooped an effort over from a good position.

There was time for the Netherlands' Marco van Ginkel and Germany's Roman Neustädter to make their senior international debuts, but there was to be no breakthrough. The Netherlands were without regulars like Wesley Sneijder and Robin van Persie, while Mesut Özil and Miroslav Klose were notable absentees for the visitors.