Holland’s embattled manager Danny Blind has vowed to stay on despite his side’s failure to qualify for the 2016 European Championships in France next summer.
Two quickfire goals from Pavel Kaderabek and Josef Sural put the Czech Republic 2-0 up in the opening half-hour of the match. Robin Van Persie, who was brought on from the bench by manager Blind in the 38th minute, scored a comical own goal to condemn the Dutch to failure.
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Although the Dutch pulled two goals back through Huntelaar and Van Persie, it was not enough to qualify for the playoff position in Group A.
Blind vows to stay on as Holland manager
A distraught Danny Blind promised to stay on as the manager of Dutch national squad despite his side’s failure to qualify for the European Championships.
Speaking to the media after the match, Blind said (via football-oranje.com), “I want to stay with the Oranje.”
“I dona t feel damaged myself. Above all else, we now need to analyse where we went wrong and then look ahead,”, he added.
“Ia m not here at the right time, but I am doing my job.
“The disappointment is with the whole qualifying campaign, which has not gone well.
“You have to stay realistic. Everyone will realise that we have to change many things, but we are missing 12 to 15 players.
“You cannot expect a country like Netherlands to win easily. We have to go on.”
Dutch Football Association (KNVB) director Bert van Oostveen also came out and asserted his support for Blind.
Speaking to the NOS new agency, Van Oostveen said, “We will continue together. Despite the disappointment, we are building on a relatively young team.”
“But we must look ahead. The World Cup qualifiers are coming up. You have no choice, you have to build,” he added.
Een enorme teleurstelling. We gaan niet naar het EK. Bedankt voor alle support en geloof tot de laatste wedstrijd. pic.twitter.com/GLnQkVKFv6
a KNVB (@KNVB) October 13, 2015
Where do the Dutch go from here?
After an utterly miserable qualification campaign that saw them accumulate just 1 point from 6 matches against Iceland, the Czech Republic and Turkey, Holland’s failure to qualify for the Euros comes as a surprise to no one. From being the third best team in last year’s FIFA World Cup, to becoming the laughing stock of the football world after failing to qualify for an expanded Euros, the Dutch have fallen fast and fallen hard.
Younger players such as Memphis Depay, Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Georginio Wijnaldum failed to step up for the national side when it really mattered.
Injuries suffered to key players such as Arjen Robben, Kevin Strootman, Ron Vlaar, Stefan de Vrij, Jasper Cillessen and Tim Krul further hampered Holland’s qualification campaign.
But perhaps what hurt Dutch the most were the abject performances put in by veterans Robin Van Persie and Wesley Sneijder. The Dutch failure to qualify for the Euros may spell the end of their International careers.