April 1st, 99

AMSTERDAM, (Reuters) - Gabriel Batistuta made amends for some glaring first half misses by scoring in the 84th minute to earn Argentina a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands after Dutch scorer Edgar Davids was sent off.

The match was billed as a friendly. The reality was anything but.

Scores of niggling challenges culminated in Davids' crude chop of Batistuta in the 73rd minute and saw the Dutchman sent packing by English referee Graham Poll for a second bookable offence. At least it livened up a quiet second half.

An altercation between several players followed minutes later and, shortly afterwards, Valencia left winger Claudio Lopez cut a ball back from the line and Batistuta charged in to score.

With a minute to go, he might even have got the winner against the Dutch, co-hosts with Belgium of the 2000 European championship finals.

Davids had earlier appeared the hero of the piece with a solo in the 10th minute. He hustled AC Milan defender Roberto Ayala from the ball and, ignoring Marc Overmars who appeared free on the left, unleashed a fearsome shot into the top left corner.

Argentina had three good opportunities to equalise.

Dutch keeper Edwin van der Sar made a point blank save from Juan Veron in the 24th minute, but the best chances came the way of Gabriel Batistuta.

In the 28th minute, Veron put him through, but he scooped the ball over the net. Two minutes later, with plenty of time and only Van der Sar to beat, 'Batigoal' hit the post.

In the second half the Dutch again emerged the sharper side and coped easily with Argentine counters, particularly as Davids mopped up in the centre.

Dutch coach Frank Rijkaard said it was a fair result.

"We played against a very strong side...We had our chances to make it 2-0 but they had theirs to score and then we had to play the last 20 minutes with 10 men," he said.

Argentina coach Marcelo Bielsa said his side had improved in the closing stages of the second half.

"We missed many chances in the first...In the second we really started to play deeply, although of course our equaliser came partly because they were a man short," he said.

The game featured 16 players who had fought out a heated World Cup quarterfinal in the cauldron of Marseille. That game, which the Dutch won 2-1, saw two players sent off.

It was very tough out there today but it was also pretty attractive football," Dutch player Clarence Seedorf said.