Netherlands Start World Cup Campaign With Win
June 11, 2006
Combining near total ball possession with patient, momentum building in the midfield and percise passing, Marco van Basten's side took three points from their Group C opener.
Clearly the man of the match, Holland's Arjen Robben netted the only goal of the game in the 18th minute, slotting a left footer past Dragoslav Jevric after bring set free of the Serbian defense on a pass from Robin van Persie.
With Argentina beating the Ivory Coast 2-1 on Saturday, this was a must-win match for the Dutch in the tournament's other "group of death" favorites.
The Serb defense, which conceded only one goal in qualifying, met their match in the doughty Robben, who tormented Nenad Djordjevic down his left wing, opened the scoring and came close to bagging at least three more.
The Serbs' best chance came in the 13th minute. Dejan Stankovic rounded two defenders and squared the ball which was beaten away from the oncoming Savo Milosevic and Mateja Kezman by a diving Joris Mathijsen, to the relief of Dutch captain and goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.
Late first-half Serb replacement Ognjen Koroman gave the Dutch-dominated crowd in the 44,000-seater stadium a fright with two cracking shots, one just before and one just after the interval.