Oranje’s World Cup campaign gets off to an ’embarrassing’ start

Matthijs de Ligt, Umut Meras and keeper Tim Krul in action during the match. Photo: Maurice van Steen ANP
Matthijs de Ligt, Umut Meras and keeper Tim Krul in action during the match. Photo: Maurice van Steen ANP

The Netherlands had a disappointing start to their World Cup qualifying campaign on Wednesday night, losing 4-2 away to Turkey.

A hat trick by veteran player Burak Yilmaz helped see off the Group G favourites in what Dutch media describe as an embarrassing defeat.

Dutch captain Georginio Wijnaldum, standing in for the injured Virgil van Dijk, said after the game: ‘given the missed opportunities, you could say Turkey wanted it even more.’

Coach Frank de Boer said the Turkish side were deadly and effective. ‘It was a very bad result.’

Elsewhere in Group G, Norway beat Gibraltar 0-3 and Montenegro beat Latvia 1-2. Only the winners of each group qualify directly for next year’s tournament in Qatar.

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