Netherlands coach, Danny Blind, says that the team’s next goal will be the 2018 World Cup in Russia after they failed to qualify for Euro 2016 as the Czechs top Group A.
The Netherlands failed to reach the European championship finals for the first time since 1984 as they lost 3-2 at home to the 10-man Czech Republic in their final qualifier.
The loss left the Dutch with 13 points from their 10 matches behind Turkey on 18, while the Czechs claimed top spot in the group with 22 points, two ahead of Iceland.
Despite their failure to qualify for the euro 2016 finals, Blind said that he would continue in his role as coach.
Dutch football fans usually decked in bright orange were reportedly wearing black on Wednesday as Dutch newspapers described the team’s 3-2 home defeat against a 10-man Czech Republic as “the biggest underperformance in the history of Dutch football”.
A headed own goal by Robin Van Persie climaxed an alarming fall from grace for the Dutch.
Van Persie, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart had been the heartbeat of a Netherlands side that finished second and third at the last two World Cups but their influence waned badly in the Euro 2016 qualifiers.
