The Dutch national football team kicked off their campaign for a place in the 2018 World Cup with a 1-1 draw against Sweden.

Oranje had opportunities enough during the match but only captain Wesley Sneijder managed to put one away, after Sweden had gone into the lead.

After the match, coach Danny Blind said his team had ‘delivered a good team performance’ and ‘played in a very disciplined way’.

However, the squad missed a lot of opportunities and ‘1-3 of 1-4 would have been a normal result’, he said.

The Dutch squad is in the middle of an extremely difficult period off the pitch. Dick Advocaat has quit as assistant coach and his intended replacement Ruud Gullit failed to agree terms with the KNMI. Assistant trainer Marco van Basten is also leaving and director Bert van Oostveen has stepped down.

Blind is also under increasing pressure in the Dutch media. Oranje have won five matches, lost five and drawn two under his leadership.