Holland’s tactics sheet shows van Dijk as STRIKER

As Virgil van Dijk roared in celebration to the travelling supporters in Germany having netted a dramatic late equaliser, Holland's tactics sheet emerged which showed the defender as the side's striker.

Ronald Koeman's side were overwhelmed by their hosts for 80 minutes and needed at least a draw in order to progress to the UEFA Nations League semi-finals.

While the late fightback was remarkable to some, the handwritten notes on a scrap of paper appear to suggest it was no fluke that it was Van Dijk, pushed up top in the final stages, who had the final say.

The note shows the plan to partner PSV Eindhoven forward Luuk de Jong with Van Dijk late on.

A cavalier approach, the plan looks on the paper at least to be a 3-2-3-2 formation Quincy Promes, Memphis Depay and Kevin Tete, who started the night at right back, providing the support to the two strikers.

Germany went into the game already relegated as their disappointing 2018 went from bad to worse.

While the year as a whole has been filled with disappointment, for much of the contest on Monday inside the Veltins-Arena, Joachim Low's side looked to have some of their old swagger back.

They went ahead inside 10 minutes when striker Timo Werner netted his first Nations League goal in style with a long range strike that caught out Dutch goalkeeper Jasper Cilessen.

Ten minutes later it was 2-0 when Manchester City winger Leroy Sane doubled the hosts' advantage and at this point, Germany were cruising.

The result was significant for World Cup winners France as defeat for Holland would have seen them progress to the semi-finals with England, Switzerland and Portugal.

However with five minutes left on the clock - and Holland throwing caution to the wind - Promes produced an impressive finish to reduce the deficit before van Dijk went on to equalise.

The ball came into the Liverpool ace on the edge of the area and he converted in similar fashion to a forward with a clinical finish which saw hearts sink in Paris.

'I received the letter from (assistant coach) Dwight Lodeweges,' Koeman told reporters afterwards. 'But I did not know what was written on it.

'It's great that Virgil scores that late equaliser of course - how often did Germany score in the last minute in recent years? Now it appears the Netherlands can do it too.'

Koeman added: 'Of course, with Dwight and Kees van Wonderen we went through different scenarios prior to the game, and also that we had to force something in the final phase.

'But when it came up at 2-0 I said no, we are not going to do that now. Then it becomes 4-0 or 5-0. But I wanted to do it at 2-1.'