Dutch youngsters denied win thanks to Verratti's late equaliser

By Theo Ruizenaar

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Substitute Marco Verratti struck in injury time to salvage a 1-1 draw for Italy in an international friendly against the Netherlands on Wednesday.

Jeremain Lens had put a young Dutch side, whose players averaged 22.3 years, ahead in the 33rd minute and the hosts looked like they were heading for victory as they repeatedly prevented the Italians from netting an equaliser.

Lens picked up a blocked shot from midfielder Kevin Strootman and lifted the ball over Davide Astori before firing home from close range.

In the dying minutes, the Italians stepped up their search for a goal and Pablo Osvaldo and Alberto Gilardino came close to scoring before Verratti picked up the ball in the area chipped it over keeper Tim Krul.

(Reporting by Theo Ruizenaar, editing by Pritha Sarkar)