The former Arsenal and Manchester United striker immediately breathed new life into the game and although the Czech Republic ended the half with Marek Suchy being sent off, the Netherlands still needed three goals.
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The Turkish party could only truly get underway when Kazakhstan’s win by the same scoreline over Latvia in Riga was confirmed, dropping the hosts to bottom place and meaning Turkey edged Hungary as the best third-placed team.
Turkey beat Iceland 1-0 in Konya thanks to a late Selcuk Inan free-kick to secure third-place in qualifying Group A ahead of the Dutch, who lost 3-2 at home to the Czech Republic.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Van Persie scored at the other end to reduce the deficit but by that point the damage had been done and the Dutch will miss a major tournament finals for the first time since the 2002 World Cup.
Blind’s side began with the gusto of a team who believed and Anwar El Ghazi should have opened the scoring within 40 seconds when he was slid in down the right-hand side, but he drilled straight at the keeper when he had time to carry the ball closer. “I wish Turkey victories in France and I will support Turkey”. How to work out the best third-placed side?
In Group H, Norway seemed to have automatic qualification in the bag when they led Italy in Rome.
Alessandro Florenzi equalised for Italy before Southampton’s Graziano Pelle struck the late victor, while Croatia beat Malta thanks to a solitary Ivan Perisic goal, leaving Norway to settle for a play-off place.
Things were pretty straightforward in the Group B – Wales and Belgium already secured direct spots, and Cyprus fought against Bosnia & Herzegovina for the third place (Israel were also in the mix, as they could grab the third with an unlikely victory in Belgium, which they failed to take).
Haris Medunjanin (two) and Milan Djuric were on the mark for the visitors with Constantinos Charalambidis and Nestoras Mitidis responding for Cyprus.
Also on Tuesday, Bulgaria beat Azerbaijan 2-0 in Group H with efforts from Mihail Aleksandrov and Dimitar Rangelov.
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Wales were made to make do with runners-up spot in the group, despite goals from Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale giving them a 2-0 victory over Andorra.
