National Team Friendly

National stadium
Spectators: 10300 (Terracing: 7725, Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Gijs Heijer started the match with the kick off. Dobriša Poslek's late challenge caught a Netherlands's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Dobriša Poslek helped the player get up and apologised. After 3 minutes of play, the referee blew the whistle. It was a penalty for Croatia! 4 minutes into the game, Netherlands's Bruno Sparnaaij nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Izidor Radmanović made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 0-1. Izidor Radmanović showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Gijs Heijer in the 7th minute of the match. In the 9th minute, Kelvin Neeskens left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Netherlands fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 0-2. After a defensive mix-up in Croatia's zone, Mathijs Zwart stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Izidor Radmanović came out of the goal and Mathijs Zwart tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Jure Salzer's shot when he came free in front of the goal in the 18thth minute, Tom Akkerboom skillfully showed off with a save to what seemed to be an obvious goal. In the 21st minute, Mathijs Zwart ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Izidor Radmanović was frozen by the shot and now it was 1-3. Croatia were awarded a corner in the 26th minute after Netherlands's defender lost control of the ball, allowing it to roll out over the line. Bojan Kučinac took the corner. In the 31st minute, Netherlands's goalie took a deep sigh of relief after Rafael Vida fired away a hard shot that went just outside the left post. Rafael Vida in the 32ndth minute had a little luck and got a chance for a shot in front of the goal. Without hesitation aimed to the right of Tom Akkerboom, who managed to lunge to the right direction and made a save. A collision led to Croatia getting a freekick after 33 minutes play. Ferenc Puskás hit a great ball. Hrvoje Matoš struck a weak shot in the 38th minute. Tom Akkerboom didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Croatia. Rafael Vida received a nice pass, split the defenders, and ran untouched towards the goal. Tom Akkerboom came out and tried to block the shot, but Rafael Vida slotted it home off the left post making it 2-3 in the 40th minute. An unexpectedly hard shot by Gijs Heijer in the 43rd minute of play forced Croatia's goalkeeper Izidor Radmanović to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Disappointed in the 2-3 score, the home team went to the dressing room to adjust tactics for the second half.

Croatia's Ferdinand Jerbić was substituted for Jure Salzer. Tom Akkerboom made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Hrvoje Matoš in the 53rd minute of play. After a rather tough play, Croatia's Srđan Gošljević got a free kick in the 55th minute. After a rather tough play, Croatia's Srđan Gošljević got a free kick in the 56th minute. Izidor Radmanović took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Gijs Heijer, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Tom Akkerboom showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Rafael Vida in the 60th minute of the match. Izidor Radmanović showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Gijs van Dongen in the 62nd minute of the match. Izidor Radmanović took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Gijs van Dongen, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. In the 68th minute Croatia were awarded a corner. Bojan Kučinac went to the cornerflag to take it. Tom Akkerboom showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Rafael Vida, who was totally free with the ball in the 70th minute. The audience was convinced that Rafael Vida's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Tom Akkerboom was relentless in the 76th minute of the game. In the 76th match minute, Netherlands was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Hugo Zeldenrust to maneuver through the defense. After 78 minutes of play, Croatia's Hrvoje Matoš made it 3-3 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Tom Akkerboom was left in no man's land by his defense there! With a couple of smart ball manuevers Hrvoje Matoš in the 83rd managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Tom Akkerboom saved Netherlands from getting behind. In the 85th minute, Rafael Vida made a precise shot to the right of Tom Akkerboom. Netherlands's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 4-3. Croatia made a substitution. Maksim Dragović replaced Rafael Vida. Netherlands's Tom Akkerboom played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Hrvoje Matoš in the 94th minute of play. In the 95th minute, Netherlands's Gijs van Dongen dribbled the ball into the box and hit a shot with the outside of his foot, sending the keeper the wrong way. 4-4.