Turkey drops Netherlands 3-0, Euro fantasy disappearing

By Zack Newmark on Sunday, 6 September 2015 - 20:27
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Despite holding possession for over 60 percent of the match, the Dutch men’s football team could not buy a goal in Sunday’s match which saw a coordinated Turkey handily beat Orange 3-0. Turkey jumped to an early lead in the eighth minute on a goal by Oguzhan Ozyakup en route to victory in front of a raucuous home crowd at the Konya Torku Arena.

Ozyakup and Barcelona's Arda Turan connected on a one-two to beat goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen as Ozyakup lofted the ball over the rushing keeper.

In the 26th minute, just moments after Turan received a yellow card for a challenge on Daley Blind, Turan ripped up a disappointing Dutch defense on the left and tucked the ball inside the goalkeeper’s post.

Shots by Memphis Depay, Robin van Persie and Wesley Sneijder were all blocked in the five minutes before Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz blew the half-time whistle.

The game was effectively ended with when Caner Erkin stole the ball and found striker Burak Yilmaz with a well-placed pass that Yilmaz put in the net into the 86th-minute.

The win puts Turkey in the third place position of Group A, with the Netherlands dropping down to fourth with just two games left to play in the qualifying round. The first and second place teams, currently Iceland and the Czech Republic, will automatically advance out of the qualifiers into the the tournament held in France.

The best third place team of all groups will also advance, while the remaining eight third place teams will take part in a play off to fill the final spots in the European Championship.

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