Amsterdam, Oct 14 (IANS) After a 3-2 defeat against the Czech Republic on Tuesday in Amsterdam the Dutch national soccer team failed to qualify for Euro 2016. Netherlands
The Netherlands last missed a European Championship in 1984 and the last time Holland was absent at a major tournament was the 2002 World Cup, reported Xinhua.
“Oranje” needed a win to grab the third place in Group A, while at the same time Turkey had to lose at home against Iceland. The start was hopeful for the Dutch, with Anwar El Ghazi testing goalkeeper Petr Cech within the first minute already. This was followed by shots over the goal by Memphis Depay and Wesley Sneijder.
Dutch optimism disappeared quickly after Pavel Kaderabek put the visitors in front in the 24th minute. Eleven minutes later Josef Sural also had the freedom to dribble through the Dutch defense to make it 2-0 for the Czechs.
The Dutch looked hopeless, but with forward Robin van Persie in before half-time for defender Jairo Riedewald “Oranje” seemed to regain some spirit again. After a pass by Sneijder on Depay the Manchester United was brought down by Marek Suchy, resulting in a red card for the Czech central defender.
In the 66th minute the orange nightmare became even worse. Van Persie headed in a free-kick by Jiri Skalak, in his own goal. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar did something back with a goal in the 70th minute and Van Persie tipped in his 50th goal for the Dutch national team in the 83rd minute.
One minute after his goal Van Persie was brought down in the penalty area, but was showed a yellow card by referee Damir Skomina.
With Selcuk Inan earning Turkey a late 1-0 victory over Iceland in Konya the Turks came out with 18 points on third place in Group A and qualified as best number three directly for Euro 2016.
The Netherlands finished with 13 points, while Czech Republic 22 and Iceland 20.