No 'Oranje' at Euro 2016
October 13, 2015
The 24-team 2016 European Championships in France will take place without the Netherlands after the 2014 World Cup's third-placed team lost 3-2 at home to the Czech Republic. Turkey and Croatia were the biggest winners on the night, sealing automatic qualification for the tournament next summer with wins of their own.
A nervy start in front of an orange-ridden (but not sold out) Amsterdam crowd was made worse when Czech Republic (and Hoffenheim) defender Pavel Kaderabek curled in a well-taken opener inside the box. Any slim chance left appeared to die when further poor defending from the Dutch saw Josef Sural squeeze in a second before the end of the first half. Netherlands head coach Danny Blind reacted, and brought on Robin van Persie. The former Arsenal and Manchester United striker immediately breathed new life into the game and although the Czech Republic ended the half with Marek Suchy being sent off, the Netherlands still needed three goals.
Van Persie did what was needing from him and headed in to score six minutes after the hour mark, but the striker had headed into his own net, rather than the Czech's. Schalke's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar headed in one and van Persie did score at the right end near full-time to set up a frantic finale, but it was far too little, too late. It is the first time the Netherlands has failed to qualify for a European Championship since 1984.
Even if the Netherlands had won, it would have been in vain after Turkey snatched a last-minute win against Iceland thanks to a superb free kick from Selcuk Inan. The win, coupled with a 1-0 victory for Kazakhstan in Latvia, saw Turkey finish as the best third-placed side, automatically qualifying them for the tournament in France.
Best of the rest
Ivan Perisic's goal for Croatia was enough to beat Malta and, thanks to Italy's 2-1 win over Norway, seal second spot in Group H. Despite having already sealed qualification to their first major tournament since the 1958 World Cup, Wales ended their campaign on a high with a 2-0 win against Andorra. Goals from Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale were enough for the win, as Chris Coleman's team finished second in Group B behind Belgium - who comfortably beat Israel to top the group and FIFA's latest world rankings. Bosnia took the playoff spot after coming from 2-1 down to beat Cyprus 3-2.
The draw for the Euro 2016 playoffs is on October 18, with the two-legged ties to be played between November 12-17.
Teams qualified for Euro 2016: France (hosts), England, Germany, Spain, Italy, Iceland, Turkey, Croatia, Northern Ireland, Austria, Portugal, Switzerland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Albania, Russia, Wales, Poland, Slovakia, Romania.
Playoff teams for Euro 2016: Hungary, Ukraine, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovenia