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AFP/Amsterdam
Dutch football fans usually decked in bright orange were wearing black yesterday after the Netherlands failed to qualify for a European Championship finals for the first time since 1984.
Dutch newspapers yesterday described Holland’s 3-2 home defeat against a 10-man Czech Republic as “the biggest underperformance in the history of Dutch football”.
Words like “Shamed”, “Pathetic” and “Disappointment” headlined stories of the Dutch defeat as the sport played by more than two million fanatics in a country of 18 million slumped to its lowest ebb in three decades.
“Everything is broken within the Oranje, chaos reigns,” said daily tabloid Algemeen Dagblad, predicting it would take the Oranje until at least 2020 to recover and reach another major tournament.
“What a disappointment!” blasted popular tabloid De Telegraaf as it splashed a huge picture of Dutch captain Wesley Sneijder with his left-hand covering his face.
As the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) and head coach Blind scramble for answers, the team’s performance cast a long shadow over their preparations for the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, when they will be in a tough group that also includes France, Sweden and Bulgaria.
By the time the 2018 World Cup comes along Sneijder will be 34, while Robben, Van Persie and Huntelaar will be 35.
For instance, the Algemeen Dagblad said that “in his heart, Van Persie wants to continue, but his body just don’t want to cooperate any longer. A new team must now for sure be built,” the newspaper suggested.
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