Paris: Antonio Conte and Guus Hiddink experienced contrasting fortunes in their first competitive games in charge of Italy and the Netherlands in their respective Euro 2016 qualifiers on Tuesday.
Simone Zaza and Leonardo Bonucci were on target to give Italy a 2-0 win in Norway and make it a dream start for Conte, who replaced Cesare Prandelli after he resigned following the Azzurri’s first-round exit at the World Cup.
The result in Group H also saw the Italians extend their impressive unbeaten record in qualifying to 41 games, stretching back eight years.
Meanwhile, a late goal from Vaclav Pilar saw Hiddink’s Netherlands slip to a 2-1 defeat to the Czech Republic in Prague.
That meant it was a disappointing start to his second spell in charge of the national side for Hiddink, who filled the vacancy left by Louis van Gaal after he led the Oranje to third place at the World Cup.
However, with the top two in each group automatically qualifying for the finals in France and play-offs for the third-placed teams the Dutch should still have no problem in advancing from Group A.
Pressure, though, will be growing on Safet Susic, who was thought fortunate to have survived in the Bosnian job after their disappointing first-round exit at the World Cup finals and a 2-1 home defeat to Cyprus in Group B on Tuesday did him few favours.
Turkey’s coach Fatih Terim may be nicknamed the ‘Emperor’ but his players did not play like Empire builders as they slumped to a 3-0 defeat away to Iceland, who continue to progress after losing out to a World Cup finals place in the play-offs.(AFP)
