Football
ESPN staff 9y

Danny Blind admits Netherlands fighting for third place in qualifying

New Netherlands coach Danny Blind conceded that his side are fighting for third place in their European Championship qualifying group after suffering another defeat on Thursday.

The 1-0 setback against Iceland meant the Dutch are six points adrift of the top two spots in Group A with just three games to play.

The result left Iceland top of the group ahead of the Czech Republic, with the Netherlands third, a point ahead of Turkey.

The top two teams in each group qualify for next summer's finals in France, while the third-place team in eight of the nine groups must endure a two-legged playoff in November.

And after the third defeat of Netherlands' campaign, Blind is being realistic.

"The reality is clear: We have to go for third place," Blind said.

Blind's first game since replacing Guus Hiddink as manager was an all-around disaster, with new captain Arjen Robben leaving with an injury and Bruno Martins Indi sent off before half-time.

Robben will not travel to Turkey on Sunday, Blind said, though the manager said he did not know the nature of the injury.

Blind was highly critical of Martins Indi, saying his red card was the turning point in the match and calling the defender's actions "unbelievably unprofessional."

The Oranje defender was shown a straight red in the 33rd minute following a strong challenge on Iceland's Kolbeinn Sigthorsson.

They then gave away a penalty after the restart which Gylfi Sigurdsson converted to hand Iceland a shock upset in Amsterdam.

"This is not the scenario you have in mind for your first match as Netherlands coach," Blind said.

The Netherlands travel to Turkey for a must-win match for both teams on Sunday. They then face the Czechs at home and Kazakhstan away in October.

"If you get four points from these [next] two games, you have your fate in your own hands," Blind said.

Wesley Sneijder said the Oranje now need to win their final three qualifiers.

"We need to win our last three games because if we don't, we will not go to France," Sneijder said.

Sneijder also said Indi's sending off changed the course of the game.

"There was nothing to worry about until that red card," Sneijder told De Telegraaf. "We also gave a penalty away. It is upsetting.

"They changed nothing in their playing style but for us to be down to 10 men it was very hard.

"It got worse when we conceded the penalty. We should have never put ourselves in that position."

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