Robin van Persie scored a 61st-minute
equalizer Saturday to give Netherlands a 1-1 draw with Bulgaria in a
European Championship qualifier.
Van Persie scored with a header and Netherlands now has seven
points from three matches in Group G.
Martin Petrov scored for Bulgaria, which has five points, in the
11th minute. The Atletico Madrid striker dribbled through the
defence and rolled the ball past Netherlands goalkeeper Edwin van
der Sar.
``We are happy with this one point,'' Bulgaria coach Hristo
Stoitchkov said. ``After we took the lead we had a chance to double
the score but my boys ... missed their opportunities.''
Petrov's powerful free kick in the 14th was saved by Van der Sar
for a corner.
The Dutch team then dominated the game with Van Persie, Chelsea's
Arjen Robben and Ajax Amsterdam's Wesley Sneijder failing to score
with more than a dozen shots.
After scoring the equalizer, Van Persie curled a shot in the 64th
over Bulgaria goalkeeper Dimitar Ivankov, but the goal was
disallowed due to a foul.
Bulgaria almost snatched a winner in injury time when Valeri
Bojinov's header off a cross from Lucio Wagner hit the post.
Netherlands striker Dirk Kuyt received an ankle injury and had to
leave the game in the 15th minute.
© The Canadian Press, 2007
