Netherlands 2-0 Denmark

Oranje struggled to break down the Danish defence in the first half, but they cruised to a 2-0 win after the interval...


Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk gave Rafael van der Vaart the nod to prove his worth at the left wing and started in the 4-2-3-1 formation we are all used to from the Dutch.




For Denmark, national coach Morten Olsen awarded striker Nicklas Bendtner a starting berth despite his alleged injury problems. Additionally, Simon Poulsen and Thomas Enevoldsen were somewhat surprisingly included in Denmark's starting XI.

Denmark started the match in a bit of a sloppy way, as a weak backpass immediately troubled shot stopper Thomas Sorensen. The glovesman managed to clear the ball into safety before Robin van Persie got to the ball though.

The referee awarded Oranje a free kick about 40 yards away from the Danish goal in the sixth minute and Wesley Sneijder opted to try his luck from long range. However, the Inter star aimed high and wide and the ball ended up in the stands.

Sorensen was called into action again after ten minutes of play. Dirk Kuyt was given some extra room and decided to pounce on the opportunity to shoot on goal. Looked fairly rudimentary for Sorensen, despite for the fact that he dropped it, but luckily for him and the Danes, no Dutch players were on hand to capitalise.

Van Persie turned his man inside out with a delicate first touch halfway the first half before he picked out Van Der Vaart. The latter fired with his left, but the ball went out for a corner.

Enevoldsen then decided to take things into his own hands and charges towards goal. Since no one shut him down, he winded up his right foot and blasted his shot high and wide.

Danish Dynamite got the best chance of the match after 27 minutes of play. Dennis Rommedahl sent in a perfect cross from the right for Nicklas Bendtner and the Arsenal star headed only just wide from close range.

A counter move by Denmark around the half hour mark caused the Dutch defence some problems. Rommedahl received a switching ball on the right and went past his marker. Nevertheless, he fired a ball straight at Stekelenburg.

Stekelenburg again saved the day for Holland minutes later. Bendtner opened up the Dutch defence, sending a through-pass to Kahlenburg. The Wolfsburg midfielder fired in a left-footed shot that was tipped out for a corner.

Van Persie then almost broke the deadlock in the dying seconds of the first half. A lucky rebound fell to the tricky attacker inside the area. Van Persie went by Agger, but slotted wide from close range.

Oranje started the second half brilliantly and opened the score only one minute after the interval. Van Persie went after a long ball down the left wing and collected the pass before sending in a cross to the far post. Denmark defender Simon Poulsen tried to head the ball clear, but his attempt bounced off the back of Daniel Agger past the helpless Denmark goalie to make it 1-0 for the Dutch.

Van Persie got a big chance to double his side's lead in the 52nd minute after an error from Simon Kjaer. Nevertheless, Sorensen rushed off his line to collect the ball before Van Persie got the chance to fire in a shot.

The Arsenal man did find the net at the hour mark, but the whistle had already gone and Van Persie's goal was disallowed for offside.

Substitute Eljero Elia showed a flash of brilliance only minutes after coming off the bench. The Hamburg star went by two defenders with a nice individual move, but his cross wasn't met by a teammate and the chance went begging.

Gronkjaer got past two men after about senty minutes of play and whipped in a long cross from the left. Going over the head of Rommedahl, the Danes lost the opportunity to equalise though.

Sneijder came very close to making it two for Oranje in the last ten minutes of the game. Ibrahim Afellay set up the Inter star with an intelligent pass on the Danish half and Sneijder unleashed a left footed shot that deflected off Agger to hit the crossbar.

Netherlands decided the match five minutes before the final whistle. Sneijder sent Elia clean through on goal with a brilliant through pass. The Hamburg star's shot bounced back off the upright, but Kuyt was alert to tap the rebound home from close range to make it 2-0.

The Dutchies came close to making it three only minutes later via Afellay. However, Simon Poulsen cleared the PSV star's shot only inches before the ball crossed the line.