On Friday, nine more matches of the 5th round were played in the European Championship qualifiers. The most attention was drawn to the match in Hamburg, where Germany hosted the Netherlands. After a thrilling and high-scoring battle, the Dutch defeated the hosts - 4:2. The Germans started the match successfully - in the 9th minute Serge Gnabry scored the first goal. The first half ended with the Germans having a goal advantage. In the second half, led by Ronaldo Koeman, the Dutch started to play much more aggressively in attack. In the 59th minute, Frenkie de Jong equalized, and seven minutes later Jonathan Tah, scoring an own goal, put the Dutch ahead. However, the Germans returned to the match and in the 73rd minute equalized the score - Toni Kroos accurately converted a controversial penalty. At that point, the tide turned in favor of the Dutch - they continued to exploit gaps in the German defense, and in the 79th minute, 20-year-old Dutchman Donyell Malen marked his debut with a goal. Georginio Wijnaldum secured the victory at the end of the match. This was the first setback in the qualifying cycle for the Germans. In their first match against the Dutch, they won 3:2. In other matches, the world vice-champion Croatian national team achieved a convincing victory against Slovakia. The goals were scored by Vlasic, Perisic, Lovren, and Petkovic. Gareth Bale gifted Wales their second victory in the qualifiers, with his goal at the end of the match securing a win against Azerbaijan. The remaining contests ended with victories for Belarus, Austria, Belgium, Russia, Slovenia, as well as a draw between Cyprus and Kazakhstan. TOURNAMENT TABLE All results: Germany 2 - 4 Netherlands Cyprus 1 - 1 Kazakhstan Estonia 1 - 2 Belarus Austria 6 - 0 Latvia San Marino 0 - 4 Belgium Scotland 1 - 2 Russia Slovakia 0 - 4 Croatia Slovenia 2 - 0 Poland Wales 2 - 1 Azerbaijan
