Netherlands striker Ruud van Nistelrooy said losing to Germany in their opening Group D match would have been disastrous after he salvaged a point with a superb late goal to level the score at 1-1 on Tuesday.

"We finished the game on a high and we got the most out of this game now. A defeat would have been disastrous for us and now we have more rest in the camp," he said..

The Netherlands played with Van Nistelrooy as a lone striker as expected, but he was repeatedly isolated and surrounded at times by up to five German defenders.

"You know when you play Germany it's like this, it's going to be tough. When you try to come back you're not going to create a lot of chances. We kept fighting and that's how the support got us through and we saved a point today.

The Germans went ahead through Torsten Frings's 30th-minute free kick but Nistelrooy turned sharply to hook in a right-wing cross from close range and deny them full points.

"We tried to make the game for 90 minutes. There weren't many chances but we tried to create a lot. They scored 1-0 and at the end of the day we got the equaliser which we deserved I thought," said the Manchester United Dutch striker.