March 25 – Turkey stunned the Netherlands with a Burak Yilmaz hattrick to win 4-2 in the opening round of 2022 World Cup qualifiers and leave the Dutch campaign in the doldrums.
The 35-year-old striker proved to be the Netherlands’ bogeyman yet again, torturing the Dutch defence from start to finish. In the 15th minute, his deflected shot wrong-footed visiting goalkeeper Tim Krul. He then converted a spot kick to hand the hosts a 2-0 lead within 35 minutes.
After the break, Hakan Calhanoglu was given too much space and the Milan-based player curled in a third. The Dutch were abject for much of the match, but rallied through goals from substitutes Davy Klaassen and Luuk de Jong. However, Yilmaz put the game to bed with an excellent free-kick. Late on, Memphis Depay failed to reduce the deficit, missing a penalty.
“A very disappointing result,” said Holland coach Frank De Boer. “We have to do things better than we showed today. You know that they are on the lookout for the counter and the first goal is a textbook example of this.”
The Dutch will play Latvia and Gibraltar in their next two qualifiers, but with Norway, who defeated Gibraltar 3-0, in the group, the road to Qatar looks anything but straightforward for Oranje. The Dutch failed to qualify for the last World Cup in Russia.
The result leaves major questionmarks over coach Frank de Boer, who succeeded Ronald Koeman in the summer of 2020, but has failed to impress. In his first seven games in charge, the Netherlands have only won two matches. At Euro 2020, the Dutch have been drawn with Austria, Ukraine and North Macedonia. De Boer got the role on the back of torrid coaching spells with Inter Milan, Crystal Palace and Atalanta United.
“Of course this is a blow, but we have to keep the positivity,” commented De Boer. “Things can go fast in football. We have to turn the switch and with the experience of the boys I am sure they will do that. We think this is terrible, but I don’t have to stand here with tears in my eyes, right? We must do much better. First against Latvia, then against Gibraltar.”
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1714065413labto1714065413ofdlr1714065413owedi1714065413sni@o1714065413fni1714065413