Brian Brobbey was down. The Dutch expected Germany to put the ball out. They did not. Seconds later Felix Nmecha slid in a low cutback and Germany led in Amsterdam. Denzel Dumfries had already confronted the visitors on the pitch for the stop that never came, and after full time he singled out their captain by name.

“We know Kimmich. World-class footballer, but you know his tricks. He plays on,” Dumfries told Voetbal International.

The Real Madrid right-back said a German player had made eye contact as if to signal the ball would be kicked out.

“That left winger looked at me as if he was going to stop. He played the ball to Kimmich.”

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Dumfries also confirmed the on-pitch confrontation.

“I did go and have words with them, yes. Certainly. In the end you do get the feeling it wasn’t right.”

He turned some of the criticism inward, saying the Dutch should not have stopped and had to learn to react quicker in those moments themselves.

Klopp’s debut ends level

The game was Jürgen Klopp’s first as Germany head coach, and for 92 minutes it looked as if he would open his tenure with a win. Cody Gakpo denied him with a stoppage-time volley that levelled the Nations League Group A2 fixture at 1-1, Sky Sports reported. Nmecha’s 32nd-minute strike had put the visitors ahead. Virgil van Dijk had had a first-half header ruled out earlier for a foul on goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen.

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“A difficult game against a fantastic team with a great coach. You want to win these games but we knew before whatever result we get we will have to work with it,” Klopp said afterwards.

A Madrid backdrop under Mourinho

Dumfries only joined Real Madrid in July, a €20m arrival from Inter to add competition on the right side. The dressing room he has walked into is not settling well. Journalist Juan Jesús has reported this week that Real Madrid are “in a critical situation behind the scenes, with the dressing room said to be in a state of disarray” under José Mourinho, appointed in June, with players said to talk over the manager during tactical instructions.

Kimmich, publicly backed by Rudi Völler as Germany captain after Klopp’s arrival, plays club football for Bayern Munich and was earning his 115th Germany cap in Amsterdam.

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