Everton manager Ronald Koeman was watching from the stands as Maarten Stekelenburg and Romelu Lukuaku both featured in a 1-1 draw between the Netherlands ​and Belgium on Wednesday night.

The Dutchman was watching his native country play along with his son Ronald junior, who is a goalkeeper for Dutch second division side FC Oss.

Koeman watches on as Lukaku misses golden opportunity

Davy Klaassen's penalty in the first-half gave the Netherlands the advantage at the break, before Yannick Ferreira Carrasco equalised in the 82nd minute. Belgium’s equaliser took a wicked deflection off the back of Joel Veltman and the looping ball caught Everton and Netherlands goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg by surprise, with the ball looping over his head and into the back of the net.

Stekelenburg played the full game on his 57th senior appearance for the Dutch national team and saw him go head-to-head with Everton teammate Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian was named on the bench, before coming on as a substitute in the 64th minute.

Lukaku, who has scored seven of Everton's 15 Premier League goals this season, looked almost certain to add to his goal tally for club and country this season. But with the goal gaping, the striker fired high into the stands from six yards out.

Kevin Mirallas was also a substitute for Belgium but he was not called upon. The Everton connections do not stop there as former Blues manager Roberto Martinez was in charge of Belguim, having been appointed their manager after he was sacked by Everton in May.

Funes Mori suffers Brazil defeat, while Davies captains England U19

Ramiro Funes Mori's Argentina suffered a 3-0 defeat against Brazil as they began their qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The defender picked up a booking as goals from Philippe Coutinho, Neymar and Paulinho sealed the victory for Brazil. Staying in South America, Enner Valencia was not involved in Ecuador's 2-1 defeat to Uruguay as he wife is expecting a baby.

A number of young Blues have also been in action, including Tom Davies who captained England Under-19s to a 2-0 victory over Luxembourg, which saw the Young Lions get their UEFA Under-19 Championship qualifying campaign off to a positive start. He told VAVEL UK after the game that he is confident Everton can bounce back from their recent 5-0 defeat against Chelsea.

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About the author
Adam Bailey
Everton editor, who also covers cycling and athletics.