Netherlands 5-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina: Zirkzee enjoys dream full debut

Joshua Zirkzee marked his first Netherlands start with a goal and an assist as Ronald Koeman’s side kicked off their Nations League campaign with a 5-2 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The Manchester United forward opened the scoring early on at the Philips Stadion.

A quiet start to proceedings burst into life in the 13th minute as Simons’ deflected effort dropped kindly for Zirkzee, who nodded the ball beyond Nikola Vasilj.

But with their second shot on target, Bosnia snatched an equaliser after Denis Huseinbasic’s defence-splitting pass picked out Ermedin Demirovic, who finished smartly.

Teed up by Zirkzee, Tijjani Reijnders restored the hosts’ advantage before teeing up Cody Gakpo, who maintained the goalscoring form he displayed at Euro 2024.

Bosnia provided a nervy finish to proceedings after Edin Dzeko neatly poked the ball beyond Bart Verbruggen, only for Wout Weghorst and Xavi Simons to seal the win in the closing stages.

Winning start in the #NationsLeague! #NothingLikeOranje #NEDBIH pic.twitter.com/eqPXPkf4Dw

— OnsOranje (@OnsOranje) September 7, 2024

Data Debrief: Gen Z(irkzee)

Having only held a one-goal advantage until the 88th minute, the scoreline eventually reflected the Netherlands’ dominance in Eindhoven.

Koeman’s side generated an expected goals (xG) total of 4.09, registering 28 shots, nine of which were on target, compared to their opponents’ four and three.

Zirkzee, meanwhile, became the fourth player after Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Bas Dost and Vincent Janssen to contribute a goal and assist on their starting debut for the Netherlands.

It was also the first Netherlands game with three players representing the same non-Dutch club side (Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Gakpo for Liverpool) since November 2013 (Michel Vorm, Dwight Tiendalli and Jonathan de Guzman for Swansea City against China).