LONDON: France captain Blaise Matuidi struck late to snatch a 3-2 win over the Netherlands in a thriller as fans and players paid tribute to Johan Cruyff’s memory with a minute’s applause in Friday’s friendly.

Early goals from Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud had put France in control at the Amsterdam Arena, but Luuk de Jong pulled one back just after halftime and substitute Ibrahim Afellay equalised with a long range shot five minutes from time.

Matuidi’s 86th minute goal handed France a deserved victory as they continued their preparations ahead of hosting Euro 2016, which the Netherlands surprisingly failed to qualify for.

The emotionally charged match was preceded by a minute’s silence for victims of the Brussels bombings.

The game halted in the 14th minute to pay tribute to Cruyff with a minute’s applause — a day after the Ajax and Barcelona great lost his battle with lung cancer at age 68.

Cruyff wore No. 14 for Ajax, the club where he launched his career.

The moving tribute to the Netherlands’ greatest player came just after Olivier Giroud had pounced on the ball from a corner and fired into the corner to put the French 2-0 up.

Before that, Griezmann had sparked the match into life early on as he gave France the lead with a precise left-footed free-kick in the sixth minute.

Home manager Danny Blind responded by making two changes at half-time, and his men dragged themselves back into the match through De Jong who turned in a free kick by Memphis Depay in the 47th.

Afellay drove the Netherlands level in the 86th minute, but there was still time for Paris St Germain midfielder Matuidi to snatch the victory for Les Bleus.

“There were some very good things. Our attacking trio created a lot of problems for the Dutch defence,” said France coach Didier Deschamps.

“In the second half it wasn’t the same players, so you can’t judge it the same. After a long break of five months we did some good things and got the win.”

Elsewhere in a friendly featuring two Euro 2016-bound teams, Ireland beat Switzerland 1-0 with a second-minute goal by defender Ciaran Clark at the Dublin Arena, while Slovakia — drawn in Group ‘B’ along with England, Wales and Russia — could only manage a goalless draw with Latvia.

Cristiano Ronaldo failed to convert a second-half penalty against Bulgaria goalkeeper Vladislav Stoyanov as Portugal lost 1-0 at home with a 19th-minute goal by Marcelinho.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2016