The Dutch national football team unexpectedly stumbled in the 2016 European Football Championship qualifying group A. The Dutch lost 0:2 away to the Icelandic footballers.
This was the second defeat for the Dutch in three matches. The fourth-place team in the FIFA rankings started the qualifiers with a loss to the Czechs (1:2).
Gylfi Sigurdsson scored two goals in the first half to bring the victory for the Icelanders.
This was the first victory of the Icelandic national team against the Dutch in history. The Dutch and the Icelanders have crossed paths eleven times.
The Dutch controlled the ball for 69% of the match. However, 652 passes led to only 3 shots on goal. Icelanders managed to achieve the same result with just 136 passes.
In the top of group A, the Czech national team solidified their position against the Icelanders with a convincing 4:2 win over Kazakhstan.
In another match of group A, neighbors Latvia and Turkey drew 1:1 in Riga.
The Croatian national team achieved the biggest victory, humiliating Azerbaijan 6:0.
Meanwhile, in the same H group, the Italians narrowly defeated Malta 1:0 as Graziano Pelle scored the only goal.
Both teams finished the match with ten players. In the 28th minute, the referee sent off Malta's player Michael Mifsud, and the Italians were left without a player in the 73rd minute when Leonardo Bonucci received a red card.
The red card shown to the Maltese captain caused a huge storm of dissatisfaction. Video replays showed that it was hard to spot even the slightest foul.
With the new coach Antonio Conte, the Italian national team won all four matches. The coach has not yet called up striker Mario Balotelli to the national team.
A 'hattrick' was recorded in Andorra. Three goals from Israeli national team player Omer Damari killed the hosts, leading to a 3:1 victory.
Monday's matches:
Group A:
Kazakhstan - Czech Republic 4:2. J.Logvinenko (84, 90) / B.Dockal (13), D.Lafata (44), L.Krejci (56), T.Necid (88).
Iceland - Netherlands 2:0. G.Sigurdsson (17 from 11 m, 42).
Latvia - Turkey 1:1. V.Sabala (54) / B.Kisa (47).
Group B:
Andorra - Israel 1:4. I.Lima (15) / O.Damari (3, 41, 82), T.Hemed (90 from 11 m).
Bosnia and Herzegovina - Belgium 1:1. E.Dzeko (33) / R.Nainggolan (51).
Wales - Cyprus 2:1. D.Cotterill (18), H.Robson-Kanu (23) / V.Laban (36).
Group H:
Croatia - Azerbaijan 6:0. A.Kramaric (11), I.Perisic (34, 45), M.Brozovic (45), L.Modric (56 from 11 m), R.Sadygov (61).
Malta - Italy 0:1. G.Pelle (24).
Norway - Bulgaria 2:1. T.Elyounoussi (13), H.Nielsen (72) / N.Bodurov (43).
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