Netherlands 1, Germany 1. Xavi and Klopp open their international coaching careers with feisty draw

AMSTERDAM — In the end, Jürgen Klopp and Xavi Hernandez gave one another a big hug on the sideline and headed for the locker rooms, honors even, unbeaten international records intact.

Thursday's 1-1 draw between Germany and the Netherlands in the Nations League was the international coaching debut for both men, who both inherited teams that disappointed at the World Cup.

Their remodeled teams served up a match with plenty of attacking intent, but short of quality finishing that could have produced a bigger score.

Xavi was happy, particularly with his team's second-half performance.

“They showed personality, ambition, desire. This is what we want," he said. "So, yeah, I think the second half is the way that we must play.”

A spectacular goal in stoppage time by one of Klopp's former Liverpool players, Cody Gakpo, who converted a beautiful cross from substitute Ruben van Bommel, earned a point for Xavi and the home team, canceling out Felix Nmecha's 32nd-minute opener that angered the Dutch because Germany kept playing despite Netherlands striker Brian Brobbey lying injured on the ground.

Klopp played down his lack of international experience, saying he has coached plenty of club games before this one.

“So I knew it, most of the things. I have fantastic players. We had a difficult game against fantastic team,” he said. "You want to win these games, but we knew before, whichever result we get, we will have to work with it. And that’s exactly what we are doing now.”

Both European soccer powerhouses parted company with their coaches after the World Cup. Julian Nagelsmann's Germany lost to Paraguay in the round of 32 and the Netherlands was knocked out by Morocco at the same stage under Ronald Koeman's leadership.

Klopp, who stepped down as Liverpool coach in 2024 after 8 1/2 years, a Champions League trophy and league title among other prizes, announced his arrival on the international scene by selecting a whopping 44 players — 16 of them uncapped — in two separate squads for the four-match Nations League stretch that started Thursday night.

“There were two teams, two very good football teams, in the same situation,” he said of the post-World Cup rebuilding process. "Both wanted to prove that things aren’t quite as bad as they’re currently perceived to be. And that showed in the match.”

Xavi, a World Cup champion as a midfielder with Spain and serial winner with Barcelona, was more conservative in his selection of a 26-man squad, but left out the Netherlands' all-time top scorer Memphis Depay.

Xavi called himself "a bit of a son of Dutch football” when he was announced as new coach on a deal through to the 2030 World Cup. “Other great coaches, especially Louis van Gaal, under whom I made my debut at Barcelona, and Frank Rijkaard, also played an important role in shaping me as a player and coach.”

He pledged to push for a more attacking style of play than what Netherlands displayed in its World Cup campaign. True to his word, he began in the four-three-three formation favored by Dutch purists and taught to youngsters at the storied Ajax youth academy. And it paid off in attacking intent — with 21 goal attempts to Germany's 10.

Klopp had likely spent more time with two of the Dutch players — Liverpool stars Virgil van Dijk and Gakpo — than he has with many in his new international squad. Van Dijk and Klopp smiled and laughed together as both teams warmed up and the German also had a warm embrace for Gakpo.

“He has been a very important person in my career so far, along with Ronald Koeman, and I have always had so much appreciation for that,” Van Dijk said ahead of the match.