Netherlands vs. France: Winners and Losers from International Friendly

On a night when the Netherlands paid tribute to the late Johan Cruyff, a Frenchman wearing the No. 14 shirt settled a topsy-turvy international friendly at the Amsterdam Arena in Holland.

Blaise Matuidi—sporting Cruyff's old number on his back—slotted in an 87th-minute winner as France clinched a 3-2 triumph over the Dutch.

Les Bleus looked to be cruising to victory when they went 2-0 up in a hurry, with Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud both scoring inside the opening 13 minutes.

However, the home team halved the deficit straight after the break, as Luuk de Jong turned home Memphis Depay's free-kick from the left.

Depay also set up Netherlands' equaliser, the Manchester United forward's short corner allowing fellow substitute Ibrahim Afellay to rifle home a shot from outside the area.

But less than a minute after conceding, France captain Matuidi popped up in the area to aim a left-footed shot through the legs of goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen.

The game was stopped in the 14th minute to honour Cruyff, who passed away on Thursday at the age of 68.

Here, Bleacher Report picks out the winners and losers from the action in Amsterdam.

Winner: Dimitri Payet

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Dimitri Payet marked his return to the France team with an impressive performance.

Playing his first game for France since June 2015, Dimitri Payet certainly made up for lost time.

The West Ham United player—who earned a recall thanks to a stellar debut season in the Premier League—played a part in his side's winning goal, combining with Anthony Martial to tee up Matuidi.

Payet's set-piece delivery also caught the eye. He curled in one glorious free-kick in the second half that team-mate Paul Pogba should have headed home.

Before his international comeback, the 28-year-old said, per the official Euro 2016 Twitter feed: "I try to put on a show while being effective because the spectators come to be entertained."

He has certainly entertained in the current campaign.

Forget about just making France's squad for the European Championship on home soil—Payet is forcing his way into manager Didier Deschamps' starting XI for the summer.

Loser: Wesley Sneijder

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Wesley Sneijder had to be substituted in the first half due to injury.

Wesley Sneijder lasted only 37 minutes of the friendly in Amsterdam.

On a big night for the hosts, following the sad news of Cruyff's passing, the Netherlands captain saw his participation cut short by a hamstring injury.

The problem will keep Sneijder out of his nation's next friendly fixture, away to England on Tuesday, according to Adam Shergold of Mail Online.

What might worry the 31-year-old even more is the Dutch looked better in his absence, although their comeback was also aided by a half-time switch from a three-man defence to a back four.

Winner: Blaise Matuidi

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Blaise Matuidi celebrates after scoring the winning goal for France in Amsterdam.

Just as it seemed France would have to settle for a draw after letting slip a two-goal lead, Blaise Matuidi popped up to lead his country to victory.

The midfielder—captaining the side in the absence of regular skipper Hugo Lloris—glided onto Anthony Martial's pass to score the winning goal.

French football expert Jonathan Johnson tweeted: "On a night of tributes to the late Johan Cruyff, France's No. 14 (Matuidi) gets on the scoresheet. A nice (albeit unplanned) touch."

Netherlands had problems coping with Matuidi throughout the game, as the Paris Saint-Germain player made a number of marauding runs into dangerous positions.

Per WhoScored.com, Matuidi also successfully completed every pass he attempted.

Loser: Danny Blind

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While France used the fixture to prepare for Euro 2016, Netherlands were instead having to focus on the 2018 World Cup.

A disastrous qualifying campaign for the European Championship saw them fail to make it out of Group A. They finished down in fourth place, behind the Czech Republic, Iceland and Turkey.

Manager Danny Blind was only appointed in July 2015, but the former Dutch international has won just twice since taking charge, according to SoccerBase.

While the home team do deserve to be praised for their second-half comeback against the French, their efforts after the break should not completely overshadow a shocking first 45 minutes.

Blind took the chance to test out different formations, while he also handed a debut to AZ striker Vincent Janssen.

However, he has his work cut out to get the team on track. It will be fascinating to see what shape they are in when they face France again in a World Cup qualifier on Oct. 10, 2016.

Winner: Memphis Depay

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Memphis Depay made an impact off the bench, setting up two goals.

Memphis Depay's move to Manchester United in the summer of 2015 has not quite gone as well as he would have hoped.

The forward—signed for £20.63 million from PSV Eindhoven, according to Transfermarkt.co.uk—has struggled to hold down a starting spot for the Red Devils under fellow Dutchman Louis van Gaal.

His club form led to Depay having concerns over his international future, per NOS (h/t Stefan Coerts of Goal.com): "There have been moments that I doubted whether I would be called up for the national team."

However, after being sent on at half-time with his side trailing 2-0, he showed his value to the Dutch team with two assists.

It was his floated free-kick that Luuk de Jong turned home to make it 2-1, while Depay's clever thinking to play a short corner to the edge of the area led to Ibrahim Afellay's equaliser.

The cameo showed just why Bleacher Report's Paul Ansorge had argued the case for Manchester United to show some patience with the 22-year-old.