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EURO qualifiers

Ross DunbarNovember 16, 2014

After a rough start to their EURO 2016 campaign, the Netherlands enjoyed a six-goal trouncing of Latvia in Amsterdam on Sunday. Meanwhile in Italy, off-field problems marred a match which was suspended for 10 minutes.

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Qualifikation Euro 2016 Niederlande gegen Lettland
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Van De Pol

The Netherlands smashed Latvia 6-0 in the Euro 2016 qualifiers to ease the pressure on head coach Guus Hiddink who had seen his side lose three of his first four games in charge.

Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben and Schalke's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored two each, as the Dutch proved to be far too strong for Marian Pahars' Latvia team.

Robben, Huntelaar and Manchester United's Robin van Persie led the line with a real purpose and the Dutch were three goals up by the half-time interval. Jeffrey Bruma, with his first international goal, and Van Persie also found the back of the net for the Netherlands in a convincing performance at the Amsterdam Arena.

Meanwhile, Cyprus swept to a 5-0 win over Andorra with Georgios Efrem scored a hat-trick and becoming the first player from his country to do so in international football.

Qualifikation Euro 2016 Niederlande gegen Lettland
Van Persie hit one of the goals for the Dutch against LatviaImage: picture-alliance/dpa/Jannink

Gareth Bale's Wales managed to dig out a 0-0 draw in Brussels to stay at the top of the group, while Borussia Mönchengladbach's Havard Nordtveit scored to give Norway a 1-0 win against Azerbaijan.

Italy clash on hold

In the later matches, Italy's clash with Croatia was suspended after 75 minutes when visiting supporters began throwing flares from the top-tier of the San Siro on to the pitch.

The Italians had been held to a 1-1 draw after Antonio Candreva's opener was cancelled by Wolfsburg's in-form Ivan Perisic. The match in Milan was eventually restarted by referee Björn Kuipers, but neither side could find a winner.

In Group A, the Czech Republic came from behind to beat Iceland by two goals to one, while Turkey managed a convincing 3-1 win over Kazakhstan and Israel beat Bosnia by the same scoreline to move to the top of Group B.

Sunday's EURO qualifiers in overview

(Group A) Netherlands 6-0 Latvia, Czech Republic 2-1 Iceland, Turkey 3-1 Kazakhstan, (Group B) Belgium 0-0 Wales, Cyprus 5-0 Andorra, Israel 3-0 Bosnia, (Group H) Azerbaijan 0-1 Norway, Bulgaria 1-1 Malta, Italy 1-1 Croatia