PARIS: The Netherlands’ hopes of reaching the World Cup finals suffered a major setback on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) when the three-time runners-up slumped to a shock 2-0 defeat to Bulgaria. In Sofia, Bulgaria stunned the Dutch with two goals in the first 20 minutes, both coming from Spas Delev. Luxembourg levelled after 34 minutes thanks to Aurelien Joachim’s penalty, his country’s first goal against France in 39 years. “We want to go the World Cup so we have to win our next five matches, they are all finals,” said Portugal coach Fernando Santos. Earlier on Saturday, Sweden crushed Belarus 4-0 to move to 10 points in Group A, three behind France, with Emil Forsberg scoring twice.

Source: Manila Times March 26, 2017 09:45 UTC