The Netherlands have thrashed World Champions Italy 3-0 in their hugely entertaining Group C opening match at The Stade de Suisse Stadium in Bern on Monday.
Ruud van Nistelrooy gave the Oranje the lead in the 26th minute of the match, with a controversial goal that on replay, looked well offside, with Wesley Sneijder doubling the score just after .
Wesley Sneijder’s shot was punched away by Italy goalkeeper Gianluca Buffon, who incidentally took-out his defender Andrea Pirlo in the process, with Ruud van Nistelrooy tapping the ball past the Italian keeper to make it 1-0.
The second goal came just after the half-hour mark, with an amazing break from van Basten’s Oranje.
Giovanni van Bronckhurst cleared the ball off the line, with van der Vaart collecting the ball, crossing it to Dirk Kuyt, who headed it down to Schneider who turned the ball in superbly from the edge of the 6 yard box.
Buffon saved Italy’s blushes minutes before the half-time whistle, saving van Nistelrooy’s shot from the edge of the penalty area, after a wonderful through-pass from his Holland team-mate.
Di Natale blasted his shot over the bar from just outside the area on the stroke of half time, with the shot never looking like troubling Van de Sar in the Dutch goal.
The game went into halftime 2-0 to Marco van Basten's team, with Italy never really looking like troubling Man Utd keeper Edwin van der Sar in the Netherlands goal.
The second-half started slowly, with few chances for either side in the first quarter of the second period.
Gianluca Zambrotta managed to elude Dirk Kuyt down the left and cut into the box, but his wild right-footed shot flew wide of the target.
Italy brought on Fabio Grosso for Marco Materazzi, who managed to cause trouble for the Holland defence for the first real time.
Italy had a couple of chances of their own, with Andrea Pirlo and second–half substitute Alessandro del Piero both forcing van der Sar into some fine saves.
Holland sealed the win in the 79th minute after a superb save from Holland keeper van der Sar from Andrea Pirlo's free-kick, which led to a break from the dominant Oranje and the third goal of the match.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst set up Dirk Kuyt, with Italy keeper Gianluigi Buffon saving brilliantly, only for Kuyt to chip the rebound from Buffon, on to Van Bronckhorst, who headed home to make it 3-0.
The match finished 3-0 to The Netherlands, who have taken the initiative in Group C - nicknamed 'The Group of Death' - after France only managed a draw against Group C dark-horses Romania.
Holland Team Edwin van der Sar, Andre Ooijer, Joris Mathijsen, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Orlando Engelaar, Ruud van Nistelrooy (Robin Van Persie, 70), Wesley Sneijder, Nigel de Jong, Dirk Kuyt (Ibrahim Afellay, 81), Khalid Boulahrouz (John Heitinga, 77), Rafael van der Vaart.
Holland Substitutes Not Used: Henk Timmer, Maarten Stekelenburg, Demy De Zeeuw, Arjen Robben, Mario Melchiot, Wilfred Bouma, Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Tim De Cler, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.
Italy Team: Gianluigi Buffon, Christian Panucci, Andrea Barzagli, Gennaro Gattuso, Luca Toni, Alberto Di Natale (Del Piero, 64) , Massimo Ambrosini, Mauro Camoranesi( Cassano, 75), Gianluca Zambrotta, Andrea Pirlo, Marco Materazzi (Grosso, 54).
Italy Substitutes Not Used: Amelia, De Sanctis, Chiellini, Gamberini, De Rossi, Borriello, Quagliarella, Perrota, Aquilani
Ruud van Nistelrooy gave the Oranje the lead in the 26th minute of the match, with a controversial goal that on replay, looked well offside, with Wesley Sneijder doubling the score just after .
Wesley Sneijder’s shot was punched away by Italy goalkeeper Gianluca Buffon, who incidentally took-out his defender Andrea Pirlo in the process, with Ruud van Nistelrooy tapping the ball past the Italian keeper to make it 1-0.
The second goal came just after the half-hour mark, with an amazing break from van Basten’s Oranje.
Giovanni van Bronckhurst cleared the ball off the line, with van der Vaart collecting the ball, crossing it to Dirk Kuyt, who headed it down to Schneider who turned the ball in superbly from the edge of the 6 yard box.
Buffon saved Italy’s blushes minutes before the half-time whistle, saving van Nistelrooy’s shot from the edge of the penalty area, after a wonderful through-pass from his Holland team-mate.
Di Natale blasted his shot over the bar from just outside the area on the stroke of half time, with the shot never looking like troubling Van de Sar in the Dutch goal.
The game went into halftime 2-0 to Marco van Basten's team, with Italy never really looking like troubling Man Utd keeper Edwin van der Sar in the Netherlands goal.
The second-half started slowly, with few chances for either side in the first quarter of the second period.
Gianluca Zambrotta managed to elude Dirk Kuyt down the left and cut into the box, but his wild right-footed shot flew wide of the target.
Italy brought on Fabio Grosso for Marco Materazzi, who managed to cause trouble for the Holland defence for the first real time.
Italy had a couple of chances of their own, with Andrea Pirlo and second–half substitute Alessandro del Piero both forcing van der Sar into some fine saves.
Holland sealed the win in the 79th minute after a superb save from Holland keeper van der Sar from Andrea Pirlo's free-kick, which led to a break from the dominant Oranje and the third goal of the match.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst set up Dirk Kuyt, with Italy keeper Gianluigi Buffon saving brilliantly, only for Kuyt to chip the rebound from Buffon, on to Van Bronckhorst, who headed home to make it 3-0.
The match finished 3-0 to The Netherlands, who have taken the initiative in Group C - nicknamed 'The Group of Death' - after France only managed a draw against Group C dark-horses Romania.
Holland Team Edwin van der Sar, Andre Ooijer, Joris Mathijsen, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Orlando Engelaar, Ruud van Nistelrooy (Robin Van Persie, 70), Wesley Sneijder, Nigel de Jong, Dirk Kuyt (Ibrahim Afellay, 81), Khalid Boulahrouz (John Heitinga, 77), Rafael van der Vaart.
Holland Substitutes Not Used: Henk Timmer, Maarten Stekelenburg, Demy De Zeeuw, Arjen Robben, Mario Melchiot, Wilfred Bouma, Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Tim De Cler, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.
Italy Team: Gianluigi Buffon, Christian Panucci, Andrea Barzagli, Gennaro Gattuso, Luca Toni, Alberto Di Natale (Del Piero, 64) , Massimo Ambrosini, Mauro Camoranesi( Cassano, 75), Gianluca Zambrotta, Andrea Pirlo, Marco Materazzi (Grosso, 54).
Italy Substitutes Not Used: Amelia, De Sanctis, Chiellini, Gamberini, De Rossi, Borriello, Quagliarella, Perrota, Aquilani
