Netherlands ended their World Cup qualifying campaign with an impressive 2-0 win over Turkey in Istanbul which the hosts chances of qualification. 

  • By Michael Bell
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robben bAfter only seven minutes, Netherlands took the lead when Arjen Robben’s free kick from out wide was not cleared, and ended up in the bottom corner.

Turkey needed a win to secure their place in next summers World Cup, and under immense pressure from the home crowd looked to attack the Dutch defence.

Daryl Janmaat nearly deflected a free-kick into his own net, while Umut Bulut headed over, and then couldn’t finish when one on one with Jasper Cillessen, who was making his debut for the Oranje.

One minute into the second half, Dirk Kuyt set up Wesley Sneijder to fire Netherlands 2-0 up, with the Galatasaray midfielder choosing not to celebrate.

Turkey looked in vain for a way back into the match, but could not find a way through the Dutch defence, and due to Romania winning are now out of the competition.

Netherlands will now have top wait for other results to see if they have made it into pot one for next summers tournament, as they need two of Italy, Uruguay, and Colombia to fail to win.

However Netherlands will look back on the qualifying campaign as a success with nine wins in ten matches, and no defeats. Preparations will now begin for next summer, with Louis van Gaal now needing to decide on who deserves a place in his squad.




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