Bulgaria beat the Netherlands 2-0 on Saturday evening.
Liverpool’s Georginio Wijnaldum in action
The Netherlands endured a miserable evening in Sofia as they were beaten 2-0 by Bulgaria on Saturday night.
Danny Blind’s men were already facing an uphill task in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, having won just two of their opening four games, trailing some way behind group leaders France.
Their task has just become harder after a disastrous night in Bulgaria, as Blind’s side slipped to a 2-0 defeat – and now lie fourth in Group A, with a World Cup place looking unlikely.
Spas Delev capitalised on two first half errors from 17-year-old centre back Matthijs de Ligt to give Bulgaria a 2-0 lead, and whilst Blind attempted to change things at half time, he was left disappointed.
De Ligt was unsurprisingly substituted in favour of Wesley Hoedt at half time, whilst Liverpool playmaker Georginio Wijnaldum was also replaced at the break by Wesley Sneijder.
Wijnaldum, 25, has been in fine form for Liverpool of late with three goals and two assists in his last nine appearances, but he was part of a tough outing for the Netherlands.
Liverpool’s Georginio Wijnaldum scores their third goal against Arsenal
Intriguingly, his performance appeared to divide opinion; some suggested that Wijnaldum was making mistakes, with fans calling him dreadful and one of the worst players in the Dutch setup, asking for the real Wijnaldum to stand up.
However, others felt that Wijnaldum was the least of Blind’s worries in midfield as Kevin Strootman and Davy Klaassen were even worse, suggesting that the Liverpool ace was the only decent player on the pitch for the Netherlands.
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