France stepped up their preparations for this summer's European Championship on home soil by seeing off the Netherlands 3-2 in a dramatic friendly meeting at the Amsterdam ArenA this evening.
Les Bleus dominated the first half of the contest, scoring twice and coming close to adding a third on numerous occasions against a Dutch side mourning the loss of footballing great Johan Cruyff.
Danny Blind's side did well to battle back to level the scoring in the second half, but France showed plenty of character of their own to win the match two minutes from time.
The visitors took just four minutes to force Jasper Cillessen into a save, as a lively Dimitri Payet made the most of his return to the international fold by curling a shot towards the bottom corner.
France may have been denied on that occasion, but just two minutes later the ball was in the net thanks to Antoine Griezmann's free kick over the wall and into the net.
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It did not take too much longer for the second goal to arrive, either, as Olivier Giroud put his shaky club form behind him to smash home Blaise Matuidi's knockdown just a few yards out - the 1,000th goal conceded by the Dutch in their illustrious history.
Les Bleus, who will head into this summer's Euro finals as second favourites behind Germany, probably should have wrapped things up when Griezmann again got in behind only for his diving header to sail over the bar.
The chances continued to arrive for the visitors as the half transpired - Griezmann once more testing the Dutch stopper with a close-range header which was kept out with an outstretched leg.
That followed a minute's applause from home supporters in respect to the late Cruyff, who passed away at the age of 68 earlier this week after a short battle with lung cancer.
Despite being ahead of their opponents in the latest world rankings, the Netherlands were desperately struggling to keep themselves in the game, with Quincy Promes's shot from the edge of the box their only on-target attempt of a tough first half.
France had one final opportunity to extend their advantage right on the brink of the interval, yet Patrice Evra failed to make the desired contact with the ball when picked out inside the box from a corner.
The second half saw the introduction of Leicester City's N'Golo Kante for his international debut, capping a memorable personal campaign for the midfielder, though it was the Dutch who started the half on top.
A little over a minute after the restart it was another substitute, Memphis Depay, whose free-kick delivery was helped on by Luuk de Jong from close range with just a hint of handball.
All of a sudden it was the Oranje who had the wind in their sails but, after Davy Klaassen saw his effort kept out by Steve Mandanda, France picked themselves back up and came within the width of the post of bagging a third.
Payet, out of the team for the past nine months, was given yet more space to cut inside and sent a shot back off the post from 25 yards out.
Sensing that the French backline was beginning to recede more and more, Depay helped stage a strong attacking move which culminated in Klaasen's latest attempt going right down the throat of Mandanda.
The final quarter of the match was largely disrupted by sweeping changes to both sides, but there was plenty of drama to come in the final stages at the Amsterdam ArenA.
Ibrahim Afellay, called up to the squad as a late replacement earlier this week, latched on to Depay's pass and tucked the ball through Mandanda's legs to seemingly earn his side a battling draw.
There was another late twist in the tale, however, as Anthony Martial made an impact of his own by threading the ball through to Matuidi who found the net via Cilessen's legs.
On a night that a Dutch No.14 was remembered by all in attendance, it was France's No.14 who proved the telling difference with that strike ultimately settling the contest.
Daniel Lewis
