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What parallel universe is this? The Netherlands stand on the brink of not qualifying for the UEFA European Championship for the first time since 1984, whilst Iceland have finished top of their group to book their first ever appearance.
Well this is modern day football. We better reassess: The Dutch haven’t been absent from a major tournament since the 2002 World Cup. Remarkable considering the Dutch came third in the latest World Cup, and reached the final in the tournament before. Even more so if you take into account that this round of qualifications is the easiest in decades because of the increase in places to 24.
Then remember that the Netherlands are competing with Iceland, Turkey, Czech Republic, Latvia and Kazakhstan in their group. It all leads to one extraordinary question: where has it all gone wrong for one of heavy weights of world football?
