FOOTBALL – MEMPHIS Depay extended his Netherlands scoring record as they cruised to an easy 4-0 win over Finland in their World Cup qualifier yesterday to move a step closer to booking a berth at next year’s finals.
The victory kept them comfortably in the lead in Group G with 16 points from six games, six more than Poland, who play later on Sunday at Lithuania.
Donyell Malen got the scoring going at the Johan Cruyff Arena with an eighth-minute strike, followed by a header from Virgil van Dijk nine minutes later. Depay tucked away a 38th-minute penalty to take his tally of goals for the Dutch to 54, having gone past Robin van Persie’s previous record of 50 last month, before Cody Gakpo made it 4-0 six minutes from fulltime.
The Dutch can secure qualification with an away win in Poland in their next fixture on November 14.
After being criticised for their performance in Malta on Thursday, where they won 4-0 but failed to impress, the Dutch were swiftly out of the blocks yesterday and Malen’s quick-footed one-two with Depay saw him strike home superbly inside the opening 10 minutes.
Depay was also the provider for Van Dijk’s goal with a freekick to the back post where the captain stooped ahead of the Finnish defence to claim his 11th international goal. Van Dijk had this week celebrated 10 years in the Dutch team.
Jurrien Timber hit the crossbar shortly before a shot from Justin Kluivert struck the hand of Finland’s Miro Tenho, with Depay tucking away the subsequent spot kick.
The 31-year-old has scored in six of his last seven international outings.
The Dutch lost some of their aggression following changes in the second half, but they were never under threat and put a cherry on top of their performance when Gakpo fired home a shot from the edge of the penalty area in the 84th minute.
In a dull game with few scoring opportunities, the Polish national team won 0-2 against Lithuania. One of the goalscorers was Robert Lewandowski, one of the best strikers of all time. His team is second in Group G, behind the Netherlands. Both teams are very close to sealing their place in the next World Cup. The leader will advance directly, and the second-place team will play in the playoffs.
The Faroe Islands, ranked 136th in the world, stunned Czech Republic 2-1 in the World Cup qualifiers, thanks to a late winner from substitute Martin Agnarsson a minute after coming on. The North Atlantic archipelago with a population of about 55,000 had also shocked Montenegro 4-0 on Thursday and now sit third in Group L, one point below the second-placed Czechs with one match to go.
Faroe Islands, who have won four World Cup qualifiers in a single cycle for the first time, will look to keep their dream of reaching a maiden World Cup finals alive when they visit group leaders Croatia on November 14.
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