Blind told to report to HQ

– The Dutch football federation have summoned coach Danny Blind (above) for talks following a 2-0 defeat by Bulgaria that leaves their hopes of reaching the 2018 World Cup hanging by a thread.

“During an evening in which literally nothing went right, the Netherlands team lost 2-0 to Bulgaria” on Saturday, the federation said in a statement.

“It was a painful defeat in Sofia, during which the chances of the Netherlands qualifying for the World Cup diminished.”

Dutch newspapers pronounced the defeat a “debacle” for which coach Blind could be axed.

Following the defeat the team drop to fourth place in qualifying Group A from which only the group winners are guaranteed to qualify for the finals in Russia next year.

Failure to qualify, on the back of failure to reach the 2016 Euro finals, would be a major shock for one of the most successful footballing nations who have finished runners-up in the World Cup three times, most recently losing the 2010 final to Spain.

Bulgaria stunned the Dutch with two goals in the first 20 minutes, both coming from Spas Delev who opened his international account.

The first came from an error by 17-year-old Matthijs de Ligt, Holland’s youngest debutant since 1931, who misjudged a pass and allowed the striker to slot the ball past Jeroen Zoet.

The gamble to cap the teenager may have backfired but the federation backed Blind’s decision.

It said Blind’s squad was hit by injuries to key defenders with Virgil van Dijk, Jeffrey Bruma and Stefan de Vrij out of contention, leaving the coach with “a puzzle” to find replacements. – AFP