Istanbul (AFP)

Turkey knocked out the Netherlands 4-2 on Wednesday in the opening match of the European qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, thanks to a hat-trick from captain Burak Yilmaz and the lack of realism of his domineering opponent.

This heavy defeat of the Netherlands awakens the specter of non-qualification for the World Cup in 2018, which led this great football nation to launch a project to rebuild its team and avoid a new trauma.

For Turkey, absent from Euro-2016 and World-2018, this victory revives the memory of the epic of the 2002 World Cup which saw them finish third under the leadership of Senol Günes, the current coach recalled as a savior in 2019.

Deprived of their hot public and condemned from the outset to watch the ball go around, the Turks contained the assaults and pressed the Oranjes to scratch chances against.

Devilishly efficient, they led 3-0 after three shots on target.

The "Milli Takim" opened the scoring with luck on a shot blocked by Yilmaz (15th), who then doubled the penalty (34th).

On the restart, AC Milan gunner Hakan Calhanoglu aggravated the score with a magnificent 25-meter strike.

- Sick of realism -

Humiliated, Frank de Boer's men furiously attacked the opposing goal.

Disgusted, the Turks let the Dutch sink into their 20 meters before spitting the ball with metronome regularity.

In the absence of the rock of Juventus Melih Demiral, injured, Turkey could count on its two other rising stars in defense, Caglar Soyuncu (Leicester City) and Ozan Kabak (Liverpool).

The overwhelming domination of the Netherlands ended up being rewarded with a quarter of an hour from the end, with two goals scored in quick succession by Davy Klaasen (75th), author of a point blank shot after a superb oriented control, and Luuk de Jong (76th), on a serve from Memphis Depay.

But veteran Yilmaz, 35, extinguished their hopes of an equalizer by scoring a free kick in the top corner (81st).

The LOSC striker came out in the 90th minute to the applause of his teammates.

The Netherlands then threw their last strength into the battle, but it was the turn of goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir to show off his talent.

After a double save in added time, he deflected a penalty struck in force halfway up by Lyon's Depay.

A failure which was added to the long list of opportunities harvested by his team, domineering but wasteful.

© 2021 AFP