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Dutch double does Romania in

David Hytner

— Photo: AP

‘KLAAS’ ACT: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar gives vent to his feelings after slotting in The Netherlands’ first goal.

BERNE: It was a noteworthy achievement for Romania to have taken the most fiendish group at the European Championship down to its final round. Ultimately, though, Victor Piturca’s spirited but largely toothless team could not find life after death.

The only pre-match permutation that mattered to them was that victory would ensure a quarterfinal date with Spain on Sunday. That Italy will now enjoy the pleasure was never seriously in doubt as Romania froze at the Stade de Suisse when glory beckoned.

They had to show adventure and cutting edge on Tuesday night as well as their usual defensive resilience but they failed. Adrian Mutu apart, they went out with a whimper.

Impressive

The ridiculous notion that Holland would lose and so ensure that Italy and France would be eliminated was exposed as exactly that. The ‘Oranje’ were better throughout and strolled to victory with second-half goals from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and the excellent Robin van Persie. With almost all of their first-choice players on the bench, Holland still impressed.

“I know Roberto Donadoni [the Italy coach]; he is a friend of mine but in this situation it’s not good to have contact with each other,” said the Holland coach, Marco van Basten, who played alongside Donadoni at Milan.

“I’m happy for him and Italy that they have gone through but tonight was about us. I’ve got a very good group. They work hard and laugh together; this makes us free. I don’t know where this will take us but I hope it will be a long way.”

The Dutch starting XI featured nine changes from the team that played France last Friday — Khalid Boulahrouz and Orlando Engelaar were the survivors — but they still had experience and quality, particularly up front.

Every player was determined to put pressure on van Basten before his team selection for the quarterfinal against Sweden or Russia on Saturday. Van Persie stated his claim the most eloquently.

Missed chances

Holland started on the front foot, passing the ball with confidence and van Persie roaming with menace from his central position behind Huntelaar. They ought to have led at the interval, having spurned two glorious opportunities.

With Ibrahim Afellay tucking in, Boulahrouz enjoyed space on the overlap from right-back and, just after the half-hour, he cut back for Huntelaar who, despite being well placed, lifted over the bar.

Moments later Huntelaar’s touch was more subtle, his flick from Demy de Zeeuw’s ball ushering Arjen Robben clean through on goal. The Real Madrid winger, though, rolled wide.

Romania struggled to settle, their play undermined by nervousness, too many passes going astray. Despite their need to score if they were to enjoy control of their destiny, Piturca’s men were content to keep things tight in the first half and try to strike on the counter.

Their best moment came in the 44th minute when Mutu found Razvan Rat on the overlap and his pull-back fell perfectly for Paul Codrea. As Romanian hearts skipped beats, Codrea blazed over.

The goal that Holland had threatened to score came early in the second half. After van Persie had pulled down a high ball with a sublime touch, cut back and forced Bogdan Lobont into a smart save, his team marauded forward once again, this time down the right.

Afellay crossed hard and low and, when Engelaar dummied, Huntelaar was presented with a side-foot chance from close range, which he accepted nonchalantly.

The result: The Netherlands 2 (Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 54, Robin van Persie 87) bt Romania 0. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2008

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