The Czech Republic snatched a last-gasp 2-1 win over the Netherlands thanks to Vaclav Pilar’s stoppage-time goal after a dreadful mistake by Daryl Janmaat in their opening Euro 2016 qualifier on Tuesday.
Defender Janmaat attempted to cushion a header back to Jasper Cillessen inside the penalty area, but it beat the goalkeeper and struck the post, only for Pilar to tuck the rebound into the net to the delight of the home fans watching the Group A clash.
“Three to five minutes before the end of the game, I would have taken a draw,” Czech coach Pavel Vrba said. “All my players tackled well and gave good individual performances. I can’t single anybody out because it wouldn’t be fair to the others.”
Photo: EPA
The Czech Republic had started brightly and were rewarded in the 22nd minute when David Lafata controlled a cross into the area, before laying it off to Borek Dockal, whose left-foot shot slammed off the post into the net to give the hosts the lead.
The Netherlands, third-place finishers at the World Cup finals in Brazil, responded with Stefan de Vrij driving a header into the back of the net after a cross from Daley Blind in the 55th minute.
The hosts kept their shape at the start in an effort to blunt a Netherlands attack missing several key players, including Arjen Robben, who was out with an ankle injury.
The visitors began taking more control in the second half, but they could not beat Czech Republic goalkeeper Petr Cech for a winner as both sides pressed forward.
The hosts, who had struggled in recent matches, always looked dangerous on the break and scored when the Netherlands mix-up gave them a dream start to their campaign.
The result also gave Vrba, who took over following the hosts failure to qualify for the World Cup in Brazil, his first victory at the helm.
The match was Guus Hiddink’s first competitive game in charge since his return to the national side after Louis van Gaal stepped down to take charge of Manchester United.
The coach bemoaned the mistakes that led to the winning goal and said the loss of Robben deprived his team of the ability to really pressure the Czech Republic on the wings.
“The Czechs played well,” Hiddink said. “We have to learn our lesson, but it is too soon to analyze what happened. It [the winner] was an unlucky goal, but the system doesn’t matter if you make individual mistakes.”
The loss made Hiddink the first Netherlands national manager to lose his first two games since his previous reign in 1995.
In other Group A matches, Kazakhstan and Latvia played out a 0-0 draw, while Iceland beat 10-man Turkey 3-0 to go top of the group on goal-difference.
In Reykjavik, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson scored in the 18th minute and Iceland’s task of defending the lead was made easier when Omer Toprak was sent off in the 59th minute after being shown his second yellow card.
Gylfi Sigurdsson doubled the lead in the 76th minute and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson completed the scoring a minute later.
Additional reporting by AP
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