Drama galore as Turks, Croats qualify while Dutch ousted
LONDON (Reuters) – Turkey and Croatia secured the last automatic spots at Euro 2016 in dramatic fashion on Tuesday, but the Netherlands’ qualifying campaign ended in failure with a home defeat by Czech Republic leaving it out of contention.
The Dutch, European champions in 1988 and World Cup semifinalists last year, finished fourth in their group to miss out on the finals for the first time since 1984.
“The truth is we gave it away,” said Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder. “We knew it would be tough, but to so easily concede goals meant it was all over for us early in the game.”
Turkey and the Netherlands were both chasing third spot in Group A behind qualified Iceland and the Czechs, but the Turks finished as the best third-placed team to qualify automatically for the finals following their 1-0 home win over Iceland.
They needed to avoid defeat to Iceland, in case the Dutch beat the Czechs, and had an outside hope of finishing as the third-placed team with the best record in the nine qualifying groups if they won and Kazakhstan also beat Latvia.
To their delight that is how the night played out.
Turkey won, the Dutch lost 3-2 and Kazakhstan won 1-0 in Latvia to send the Turks to the finals for the fourth time.
“We have to look towards future now, that is a fact, we didn’t make it, it is very disappointing for the players, for me and for the whole Netherlands, but we have to look forward and qualify ourselves for Russia [World Cup in 2018], that’s our next goal,” said Netherlands coach Danny Blind after the match.
Before Tuesday’s matches kicked off, Hungary had the best third-place record, but they now go into the playoffs.
Turkey, which finished with 10 men, won with an 89th minute free-kick from Selcuk Inan and the result brought some much needed joy to his compatriots.
“As a country we really needed this win to feel happy, even for a few hours maybe,” said coach Fatih Terim, referring to last weekend’s bombing in the capital Ankara that killed almost 100 people.
“We have a younger team now, and it’s making us even more proud that this young bunch achieved this,” he added, saying Turkey will go to Euro 2016 with an even younger squad.
Croatia also made it the finals with a 1-0 win over Malta, but it was touch and go until the closing moments.
The Croats, who started with 17 points, and Norway, which had 19, were both looking for the second automatic berth in Group H behind group winner Italy.
But while Croatia was winning in Malta, thanks to Ivan Perisic’s 25th minute goal, Norway was also leading in Italy at the break in Rome.
However, with the finishing line in sight, the Norwegians collapsed, conceding two late goals to lose 2-1 and allow Croatia to overtake them.
Norway at least has the consolation of a place in Sunday’s draw for the playoffs, which is more than the Dutch achieved.
A World Cup semifinalist last year in Brazil after starting with a 5-1 demolition of Spain, the Netherlands was beaten five times in 10 qualifying matches.
Twenty teams, including host France, are now assured of a place at the finals, with the draw for the two-legged, eight-team playoffs taking place on Sunday.