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Germany 1-1 Holland Hamann curses bad luck Van Nistelrooy hails draw

Holland midfielder Edgar Davids admitted he could not see a way back against Germany.

The Dutch trailed 1-0 until Ruud van Nistelrooy's equalised nine minutes from time in a highly-charged match.

"Of course I hoped we would score but it was difficult - we did not make a lot of chances," Davids told BBC Sport.

"I was trying to keep the faith but it was not easy," admitted Davids, who was substituted at half-time as coach Dick Advocaat changed formation.

Holland had lost their way after a sound start and fallen behind through Torsten Frings' 30th-minute goal.

And the 31-year-old Davids said he was not surprised that local rivals Germany made it a hard contest for his side.

I was trying to keep the faith, but it was not easy Edgar Davids

"They may have struggled in their recent friendly games, but it is always difficult for Holland when we play against Germany."

Defender Jaap Stam added that the physical encounter was nothing less than he expected.

"I wasn't really surprised by them because we know how they play," Stam told BBC Sport.

"That is their style of play. It is hard to get through and that is what you saw.

"It was a very tough, very hard game. The Germans dropped in front of their own box so it was very hard to get through but we managed it in the end.

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"I don't think we played that well so at the end a point was a good result."

Meanwhile, Giovanni van Bronckhorst pointed out the need to focus on defending dead-ball situations ahead of their remaining group games.

"We were vulnerable with free-kicks and corner kicks for Germany," said Van Bronckhorst. "They were very strong in that area.

"We will be walking hard on set pieces against the Czech Republic.