A brutally honest Arjen Robben admits Netherlands have no chance of securing the miracle seven-goal victory over Sweden required to book a World Cup play-off berth
A brutally honest Arjen Robben admits Netherlands have no chance of securing the miracle seven-goal victory over Sweden required to book a World Cup play-off berth. The Oranje narrowly avoided elimination with a late 3-1 win in Belarus on Saturday, but the result means they remain little more than a mathematical chance of finishing second in Group A.
Netherlands' Arjen Robben
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Sweden romped to an 8-0 rout of Luxembourg to effectively kill off those chances. And Robben, who scored an 84th-minute penalty to restore his side's lead in Belarus, the Dutch are set to miss Russia 2018. "This hurts. It is unfortunately part of the sport," Robben said. "After Sweden's result you can't do anything else other than play with your chest out, but an 8-0 win in Belarus [was not going to] happen. And a 7-0 win at home to Sweden isn't going to happen.
"When you hear [Sweden won] 8-0, that's a big blow. In the first half, we did not have many opportunities."
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