The Netherlands have a new captain and a new manager but not a new start. Third in last year’s World Cup and third in Group A of Euro 2016 qualifying, they have veered quickly from admirable success story to embarrassing failures.
As a landmark victory in Amsterdam on Thursday put Iceland on the brink of making history, the Dutch are threatened with ignominy.
A change in the dugout brought no change in fortune. After the end of Guus Hiddink’s dreadful second spell in charge, forming an undignified coda to an outstanding managerial career, his assistant-turned-successor Danny Blind has made the least auspicious of starts as they were beaten 1-0 by Iceland on Thursday.
While Robin van Persie lost both the captaincy and his place in the team, Arjen Robben’s first appearance with the armband lasted less than 30 minutes due to a calf injury.
A miserable night for Blind was summed up as Bruno Martins Indi was sent off for catching Kolbeinn Sigthorsson with a flailing arm in the first half, and Gregory van der Wiel’s reckless challenge giving away the penalty, converted by Gylfi Sigurdsson that won the game for the Icelanders.
Remarkably, the Netherlands now trail Iceland by eight points. Iceland have never qualified for a major tournament, but with group laggards Kazakhstan visiting Reykjavik tomorrow, they could book their place in France with two games to go. Lars Lagerback and Heimir Hallgrimsson’s charges are on the brink of an astonishing feat for a country of just 320,000 people.
This, by Icelandic standards, is very much a golden generation, but their starting 11 still contained players from Cardiff City and Charlton Athletic, Viking Stavanger and Hammarby, Odense and NEC Breda.
They represent the antithesis of the Netherlands, forming a side that is greater than the sum of its parts.
There is a sense of purpose about the committed Icelanders. The unity in their camp is epitomised by the presence of joint managers, Lagerback a Swede and Hallgrimsson an Icelander, separated by almost 20 years but combining wonderfully.
The Dutch, in contrast, are providing reminders of the self-destructive streak that has proved their undoing in the past.
An increasingly wretched qualification campaign may not yield even a play-off place. The expansion of the European Championships to 24 nations seemed designed to offer hope to infrequent qualifiers, rather than outsiders such as Iceland.
It might not even provide a reprieve to underachievers such as the Netherlands. They are now six points behind second-place Czech Republic, with the top two sides qualifying automatically, and if Dutch lose to Turkey tomorrow they will drop out of third and the play-off spot.
It is both unthinkable and all too feasible. Their plight is improbable and, from watching them, all too understandable. The Netherlands have three games to rescue themselves. They are showing too few signs they have the mettle to respond.
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