Intro:

Substitute Ilian Micanski scored an injury-time header to give Bulgaria a surprise victory over the Netherlands.

The home side had opened the scoring in the friendly in Amsterdam, but went on to lose the game 2-1.

Script:

The Netherlands may be going to Euro 2012 and Bulgaria are not, but it was not clear from this game.

Valeri Bojinov went close to giving Bulgaria a shock lead five minutes from the break when he beat Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul with a curling left-foot free kick only to see the ball slam into the bar.

Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk began with the English Premier League's top scorer Robin van Persie on the right flank and Bundesliga top scorer Klaas-Jan Huntelaar at centre-forward.

The potentially lethal pairing failed to threaten the packed Bulgaria defence early on.

But then Van Persie gave the Netherlands the lead on the stroke of half-time, running onto a pass over the Bulgaria defence by Wesley Sneijder and volleying home with his left foot for his 26th international goal.

Bulgaria hit back shortly after the break through an Ivelin Popov penalty after Rafael van der Vaart was adjudged to have handled the ball in the area while attempting a sliding block.

A draw looked the most likely outcome as the clock ticked down, but substitute Ilian Micanski popped up at the death to silence the home crowd.

2-1 the final score. A disappointing result for van Marwijk's men, who will travel to Poland and Ukraine next month as one of the tournament favourites following their runners-up finish at the 2010 World Cup.