Netherlands U21’s have failed to qualify for the 2018 European Championships despite a 4-1 win over Cyprus on Tuesday.

oranje-u21-bergwijnThe draw with Turkey last week left Netherlands needing to beat Cyprus and hope a series of results went their way for a chance to be one of the best four runners-up, who go into the play-offs.

After 15 minutes, Jong Oranje went ahead in Cyprus with Donny van de Beek netting from a Jean-Paul Boetius corner. However, Cyprus then equalised three minutes later Nicholas Ioannou scoring from a free-kick.

Before the break Steven Bergwijn restored Netherlands lead after a nice link up with Riechedly Bazoer. After the break, Netherlands eased to victory with Bazoer making it 3-1 before Bergwijn wrapped up the victory, which proved to be not enough to reach the Euros.

For the second U21 Euros in a row, Netherlands will not be present. However, with new recruits Donny van de Beek, Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Steven Bergwijn impressing, new head coach Art Langeler has a number of players who can spearhead a better challenge when qualifying for the 2019 tournament gets underway.




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