Dutch federation dismisses Danny Blind after defeat in Sofia

Dutch football legend Danny Blind was sacked as manager of the Netherlands national team. The Dutch football federation took the decision after a series of unconvincing performances by the team. The former Ajax defender spent almost two years in charge of the national side but failed to impress as a coach.

The Netherlands played 18 matches under Blind, winning only eight, losing seven and drawing three. His last game was a World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria a couple of days earlier. Holland lost 0-2 in Sofia and all but lost their chance of reaching the biggest tournament in international football.

The Netherlands had already failed to qualify for Euro 2016 a year earlier, finishing fourth in their group with only 13 points from ten games. The Flying Dutchmen started the new qualifying campaign better, with two wins, a draw and a defeat in their first four Group A matches. The performance against Bulgaria, however, was dreadful.

Bulgaria completely outplayed the Dutch. Spas Delev scored his first goals for the national team to secure all three points for his country. Even with stars such as Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder on the pitch, the visitors could produce nothing against a strong Bulgarian defence. Sporting Lisbon’s prolific striker Bas Dost, who had scored 24 goals in 23 league matches that season, also failed to make any impression.

Pundits heavily criticised Blind for his choice of central defender. He picked 17-year-old Ajax player Matthijs de Ligt, who made two crucial errors that allowed Delev to score twice. Blind recognised his mistake and substituted him at half-time, but by then it was already too late.

After that defeat, the Netherlands were left fourth in Group A with just seven points from five games. France led the table unbeaten on 13 points, with Sweden second on ten and Bulgaria third on nine.

Danny Blind’s career before the national team

Dirk Franciscus “Danny” Blind was born on 1 August 1961 in Oost-Souburg. A defender, he began his career at Sparta Rotterdam, where he played from 1979 to 1986, before joining Ajax. He stayed in Amsterdam until 1999 and made 372 league appearances for the club. With Ajax he won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1987, the UEFA Cup in 1992 and the Champions League in 1994–95, followed by the UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup in 1995, along with five Eredivisie titles and four KNVB Cups.

Blind won 42 caps for the Netherlands between 1986 and 1996 and scored one goal, against Greece in a Euro 1992 qualifier. He was part of the Dutch squads at the 1990 and 1994 World Cups and at Euro 1992 and Euro 1996. As a coach he led Ajax from March 2005 to May 2006, and he was appointed head coach of the national team on 1 July 2015 as the successor to Guus Hiddink. His son, Daley Blind, also became a Netherlands international.

How the qualifying campaign ended

Blind was dismissed on 26 March 2017, the day after the defeat in Sofia. Fred Grim took temporary charge, and the Dutch federation then brought back Dick Advocaat for a third spell, with Ruud Gullit as his assistant, on a short-term contract designed to rescue the campaign.

The remaining results improved. The Netherlands beat Luxembourg 5-0 in June 2017, lost 4-0 away to France on 31 August, then beat Bulgaria 3-1 and Belarus 3-1. In the final match, on 10 October 2017 at the Amsterdam Arena, Arjen Robben scored twice in a 2-0 win over Sweden.

It was not enough. France won Group A with 23 points, and Sweden and the Netherlands both finished on 19. Sweden took second place and the play-off spot thanks to a far better goal difference, +17 against +9, so the Netherlands missed the 2018 World Cup after also missing Euro 2016.