Missing the past two major tournaments had been hard for the Netherlands to swallow, but Georginio Wijnaldum says they have taken a massive step toward qualifying for Euro 2020 with their win in Belarus.
Wijnaldum on Sunday scored a brace in his side’s 2-1 win in Minsk keep the Netherlands top of Group C, level on points with Germany and three clear of Northern Ireland, who they beat 3-1 in Rotterdam on Thursday last week.
It means the Netherlands need only a draw in their next game against Northern Ireland in Belfast on Nov. 16 to book their place in the finals.
Photo: Reuters
“It was very painful to miss the last World Cup and European Championship before that,” Wijnaldum said. “When we were off on holiday in the past summers, it was going through my head the whole time that we should have been there. That’s why this win is so nice. Of course, we are not completely sure of a place in the tournament, but we have certainly taken a giant step.”
Wijnaldum scored the first with his head and then struck a powerful long-range shot to give his side a 2-0 halftime lead.
They let their hosts back into the game after the break, but should have scored more, with Wijnaldum narrowly missing out on a hat-trick.
“In the second half, we thought it might be too easy. That was laziness, for sure,” he said. “That is why we are critical of our own performance now. If we play like that against the best teams in Europe at the European Championship, it can be fatal, but looking at the bigger picture it was a fifth win in six qualifiers and that is obviously good, especially if you see where we have come from, and there is a lot still to come from this group of players. That is why we must stick together.”
Wijnaldum was 23 when the Netherlands competed at the World Cup in Brazil and he said that it would be important for the squad to experience playing on the biggest stage once again.
“To go to a tournament like that is massive for your development as a player,” he said. “I know how much pleasure it can bring to compete in a major tournament, especially as we grew in that tournament. We need to feel that again, but first we must qualify. We all know strange things can happen in football. If we keep concentration in Northern Ireland then all will turn out well.”
In Tallinn, Ilkay Gundogan scored twice and set up another for 10-man Germany to beat Estonia with three second-half goals.
“The whole week hasn’t been easy, but we didn’t complain,” said Germany coach Joachim Low, whose side was hit by injuries. “The decisive thing was that we upped the pace in the second half. In the end it was satisfactory.”
Emre Can, filling in at centerback, was shown an early red card for bringing down Frank Liivak, who would have been through on goal.
Germany had never had a player sent off so early in a game, with Can beating the mark set by Robert Huth’s 15th-minute ejection in a friendly against Northern Ireland in 2005.
Gundogan finally broke the deadlock in the 51st minute when his effort from outside the penalty area took a slight deflection off Marco Reus’ heel.
His second goal six minutes later also took a deflection, this time off a defender.
Gundogan’s long pass over the top allowed substitute Timo Werner to wrap up the win in the 71st minute.
The Netherlands and Germany are level on 15 points at the top of Group C and well-placed to qualify. Northern Ireland are third on 12 points.
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