Belgium's Yannick Carrasco grabbed a late equaliser to secure a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands in a friendly at the Amsterdam Arena on Wednesday. Carrasco's left-foot shot in the 82nd minute took a deflection and looped over Maarten Stekelenburg to reward the visitors for sustained second-half pressure. Jan Vertonghen had fouled Jeremain Lens to present the home side with a 38th-minute penalty which Davy Klaassen blasted past Simon Mignolet to give the Dutch a halftime lead. The home team might have had an earlier penalty when Mignolet came out to clear a short back pass from Laurent Ciman and clattered into the onrushing Vincent Janssen, who was forced off not long afterwards with a head injury.
The Dutch also lost Stijn Schaars to a muscle problem and Lens went off with a hamstring injury in the second half ahead of their World Cup qualifier in Luxembourg on Sunday. Belgium, who play Estonia in a World Cup qualifier on Sunday in Brussels, had chances, Romelu Lukaku squandering a close-range opportunity and Kevin de Bruyne going close twice before he went off just past the hour mark. De Bruyne's first-half header was just off target and a free kick was palmed away by Stekelenburg. Lukaku, who came on for the final 25 minutes, missed a golden chance from Eden Hazard's cross. Central defender Vincent Kompany, due to play his first international in more than a year, pulled out of the Belgian starting line-up just before kick-off after experiencing discomfort in the warm-up.In particular, the Argentine was impressed by the performance of the three-goal hero Carrasco, promising that there is more to come from the 23-year-old.
"I'm very happy for Carrasco," Simeone told reporters. "He is a very complete player, with a bright future ahead of him. "He is on the path to getting even better. "We work with him day by day to help him play like he did today." Yet it was not only the Belgian who received his manager's praise, as Simeone revealed his delight at the collective effort. "All of the players responded in the best way possible," he explained. "The players who came off the bench today [Gaitan, Tiago and Fernando Torres] also contributed to winning this game." Finally, the Argentine discussed Atletico's Supporters Clubs Day, a family-friendly celebration held before the match to encourage children to attend the day's game. "I was surprised by how many kids were in the stands," he said. "It's necessary that they became enamoured with the passion and ambition that is in the atmosphere."
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