Indoor soccer players advance to elite round of World Cup qualification with 6-1 win over Moldova

The Dutch indoor soccer players have joined the 20 countries that will compete in an elite round for participation in the World Cup. The Dutch defeated Moldova in the playoffs Wednesday by as much as 6-1. It had also won the outward match 5-2 last Sunday in Almere.

Five groups of four will be formed in the elite round. The five group winners will qualify directly for the World Cup. The draw is on July 5 and the group matches must be played by December 20. The top four numbers two qualify for the playoffs for the final World Cup tickets. Next year’s World Cup is from Sept. 6 to Oct. 5.

Moldova played soccer in Ciorescu in front of its own crowd with the urgency of a team that needed to make up for the 5-2 defeat from the outward game. It got five corners against but one for the Netherlands before halftime, but the home team failed to score. With seven minutes left in the first half, goalkeeper Manuel Kuijk made a fine save on a life-size chance by Sergiu Timpu.

At the stroke of halftime, it was the Netherlands that struck first. Said Bouzambou hit the post from close range, but in the rebound captain Mats Velseboer slammed the 1-0 past the Moldovan goalkeeper.

The second half was barely underway when Lahcen Bouyouzan put the Netherlands up 0-2, on a pass from Abdesssamad Attahiri. The Moldovans then had chances, but aimed wide and otherwise Kuijk got in the way. After Bouzit’s 3-0, the home country’s defense was definitely broken and through goals by Bouzambou, Bozit again and Denzel van Houtum, the smoothly combining Oranje ran away to 0-6.

It took a Dutchman to do the proverbial Moldovan honor. Just before the end, Ferd Pasaribu worked a cross past his own goalkeeper Kuijk in an unfortunate way.