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Striker Robin van Persie and manager Bert van Marwijk have played down their apparent spat during Holland's victory over Slovakia in the last 16 of the World Cup.
The Dutch, who have been criticised for failing to hit top form, progressed to an appealing quarter-final against Brazil courtesy of a 2-1 victory over the Slovaks on Monday afternoon.
But Van Persie was substituted in the 80th minute of the Port Elizabeth match having failed to add to his solitary goal at this summer's finals.
The Arsenal striker remonstrated with Van Marwijk regarding his early exit, but he has since insisted the act was nothing personal and was only due to frustration.
"I wanted to finish the game. I thought they would take risks in the last 10 minutes and I wanted to exploit that," said Van Persie.
Shock
"I could see spaces opening up and I wanted to use them, so I was a bit shocked when I had to go off."
Van Marwijk said: "I shook his hand and understood that he was disappointed, that's not a bad thing. Everyone wants to play the whole game."
Van Persie's one goal to date in South Africa came in Holland's 2-1 win over Cameroon in Group E and he confesses his form is playing on his mind.
"I am not scoring and that eats away at me, at every striker, I think," he added. "I've had a few small chances. I just want to score.
"I'm doing my absolute best, I can't do more than that. I desperately want to score and give assists but it didn't work out for me (against Slovakia)."
www.skysports.com
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A superb strike from Arjen Robben and a late Wesley Sneijder goal gave Netherlands a deserved if somewhat underwhelming victory over Slovakia to seal their place in the World Cup quarter-finals.
Robben capped his first start of the finals in South Africa by collecting a pass from Sneijder before running at the Slovakia defence and then firing a superb low drive into the net from 25 yards.
Sneijder stroked home a pull-back from Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt to essentially seal the game for the Dutch, with Robert Vittek firing home a consolation penalty with the very last kick of the match.
It gave Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk and his side a deserved victory, but one they rarely had to be at their best to secure against opponents that worked hard but lacked the composure to capitalise on the few chances that fell their way.
In reaching the last 16 and eliminating Italy via a 3-2 group win over the holders, Slovakia have achieved their goal in their first World Cup since splitting from Czechoslovakia in 1993.
With a quarter-final tie against either Brazil or Chile to come, the Dutch will have to up their game if they are to fulfil their own aim.
Van Marwijk's men have a 100% record in South Africa - matching their impressive achievement in winning all their qualification games for the tournament - and have now gone a Dutch record 23 games unbeaten, but there remains discontent amongst the Oranje Army, who feel their side are not winning with sufficient style. What England would give for such concerns.
Such gripes, whilst arguably trivial in a successful side, are valid as the current Netherlands side are not the aesthetically pleasing product of generations past.
They do not compare to the revered teams from 1974 and 1978, nor even are they as fluent as that which was eliminated from the European Championships at the quarter-final stage in 2008.
This Dutch have traded in their total game for dependent football, with an efficiently pragmatic, rigid structure functioning largely to feed a supremely talented and liberated front three of Sneijder, Robben and Robin van Persie.
This trio are capable of hurting the world's best and Slovakia - ranked 34 in the world - were unable to cope with their pace and movement.
All three had efforts on goal during the first half, and while Van Persie planted a poor header wide and Sneijder shot straight at Slovakia goalkeeper Jan Mucha from an angle, Robben ruthlessly exposed Slovakia's defensive fallibility to score in the 18th minute.
Sneijder floated a superb, raking pass to release the Bayern Munich man, who controlled, ran on, cut inside and then finished with aplomb into the bottom corner. It was the only moment of true quality in the first 45 minutes.
Robben was again in the thick of the action early in the second half, collecting the ball on the left and drawing a good full-stretch save from Mucha with a curling effort before appearing on the right and pulling back for Sneijder to shoot, but again the Slovakia keeper saved, this time with his face.
Slovakia offered little threat in the first half, but twice in a space of two second-half minutes they threatened to draw level.
Miroslav Stoch took a leaf out of Robben's book by cutting inside onto his right foot and shooting but Netherlands keeper Maarten Stekelenburg tipped over.
Seconds later Marek Hamsik toe-poked forward for Vittek, who showed none of the composure he demonstrated to score twice against Italy by firing straight at Stekelenburg.
With six minutes remaining, Sneijder made amends for his earlier miss, this time receiving a pull-back from Kuyt, after Mucha had missed the initial pass to the Liverpool player, and slotting home into a largely empty net.
Slovakia's final touch in this World Cup was a positive one as Vittek stroked home a penalty for his fourth and final goal of the tournament after Stekelenburg had tripped the striker.
Netherlands 2-1 Slovakia
Robben, 18
Sneijder, 84
Vittek (pen), 90+4
Netherlands
* 01 Stekelenburg
* 02 Van Der Wiel
* 03 Heitinga
* 04 Mathijsen
* 05 Van Bronckhorst
* 06 Van Bommel
* 08 De Jong
* 10 Sneijder (Afellay, 90+2)
* 07 Kuyt
* 09 Van Persie (Huntelaar, 80)
* 11 Robben (Elia, 71)
Slovakia
* 01 Mucha
* 02 Pekarik
* 03 Skrtel
* 05 Zabavnik (Jakubko, 87)
* 07 Weiss
* 15 Stoch
* 16 Durica
* 17 Hamsik (Sapara, 87)
* 19 Kucka
* 11 Vittek
* 18 Jendrisek (Kopunek, 71)
* Venue: Durban
* Referee: A Undiano Mallenco
* Attendance: 61,962
www.bbc.co.uk
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Holland coach Bert van Marwijk is expecting an improved performance from his players when they take on Slovakia on Monday in the last 16 of the World Cup.
Even though his team recorded their third triumph in as many games, Van Marwijk was furious with his side's under-par display in their 2-1 win over Cameroon on Thursday.
"We could have easily lost that game and that was surprising to me," said Van Marwijk. "I spoke to my players very clearly after the Cameroon game.
"We played less well when we are ahead and we seem to think that it's going to be easy.
"But in the last 16 you cannot afford that and that is what I said to them.
"We cannot underestimate any rival because otherwise we will be in for a surprise. You can always be surprised in football."
Van Marwijk believes his team that have conceded just once while scoring five times so far, have yet to show their best form in South Africa.
"I think that we made a good impression in our first two qualifying matches," he said.
"But it wasn't spectacular football and we can do better.
"There is room for improvement."
Slovakia stunned Italy 3-2 last Thursday in their final group game to send the reigning champions home. and Van Marwijk believes they are capable of causing further upsets.
"I think they are a very rigid and tough team," he said. "They don't have any big-name stars but they play solid football as they proved against Italy.
"They played very well against the Italians and I think it's going to be a difficult game.
"We must be prepared for everything and over the past few weeks we have practised penalties more than enough.
"I think my players realise where we are, what this game means and what they have to do.
"They are all very motivated but they have to really focus in order to get the job done."
Robin van Persie, who left the training early on Saturday, is fit enough to play.
Van Marwijk is expected to leave Arjen Robben on the bench for the clash with Slovakia.
The Bayern Munich winger only recently recovered from a hamstring injury and made his World Cup bow against Cameroon.
"Arjen played for 20 minutes against Cameroon," said Van Marwijk.
"He trained well but I will have to wait and see how he feels."
One player who is doubtful for the encounter is Real Madrid midfielder Rafael van der Vaart.
"I did talk to him and he has a cramp in his calf and that points towards a sprain," said Van Marwijk.
www.sportinglife.com
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Robin van Persie was sitting next to pop icon Shakira last week in the sports room of the Hilton Hotel, but the Arsenal striker never asked her for a photo opp. The Oranje number 9 did have pictures taken of himself with football legends Johan Cruyff and Zinedine Zidane. Now he’s hoping to collect Maradona.
Van Persie emphasized to whoever wanted to hear that he’s not the type to share pics with famous people. But not much later, a proud Robin showed the photos of him with Zidane and Cruyff to the media. “I think they’re the only ones I want to share a picture with, really. Oh, and Diego Maradona.”
Van Persie is world class. And like him, Maradona, Zidane and Cruyff were top playmaker. But, since a number of months, Van Persie wants to be the central striker. He did well for Arsenal, impressed in Oranje in the warm up too, but in the first two group games, Van Persie didn’t set the stage on fire. “I really need to improve.”
Van Persie got one opportunity in both games. “And a striker needs to score those. I didn’t. And that’s not good. But I won’t panic, I gave everything I had and sometimes it’s not enough. I worked hard, I made my yards and I worked for the team. And there will be a moment that I score. Fernando Torres had that at the EC, remember? He didn’t score at all, until the finals. He decided the final game.”
The position of central striker might well be the toughest of them all. Normally, he’s surrounded by two defenders and sometimes one or two holding midfielders. And he will be judged on that one chance. Why would a world class midfielder play central striker.
“I like the position and I like the challenge. I’ve reached a high level as number 10 and on the wings. I think I can succeed on this spot too. I do all I can and with Arsenal I’ve demonstrated that I can do it. But it is hard. As playmaker, you can drop a bit and pick up the ball and get the feeling. Now, I’m simply waiting for the right pass and need to act in milli-seconds and the world will judge me on those situations. I won’t hide though. I always worked hard and I’m sure things will turn out well.”
Van Persie is aware of the criticism on the team, but he is his own biggest critic. “The whole team can do better. And when we play opponents who will allow more space, we will do better. Our game will come to it’s own then. We are highly critical ourselves. But at the same time, other nations demonstrate how tough it is to win two games in a row. Good things will happen knowing we are able to play a level better than we do now.”
AD editor Chris van Nijnatten has a more damaging opinion, though… Here goes:
“In the matches and on the training pitch, it seems as if Robin van Persie is a debutant struggling to keep up with the pace. This image doesn’t fit the picture he sketched of himself… In particular his interview in Studio Voetbal was a demonstration of maturity and confidence. The interview in which he claimed the central striker position in Oranje.
A young pro, totally in balance. That’s how it looked. He repeatedly said Oranje would comce good, as long as the Big Four would play. And a phenomenon was born.
And indeed, it will come good with Oranje, but maybe not with Van Persie, as yet. Bert protected van Persie after the Japan game, saying his mates “didn’t connect too well with him”… That might be partly true, but it’s not the whole story.
Van Persie is not your typical striker. He doesn’t lurk for that one chance. He’s not opportunistic enough. And he forgets to find the right position in the box, like Huntelaar can. How many times did we see balls crossed into the box without finding Van Persie there? It looked like nothing. And Van Persie isn’t able to hide his disappoinment. He’s not the leader he wanted to be.
It seems like Van Persie took on too much. More than he can chew. And he seems to choke now. He might have overestimated himself. He hasn’t won that much, he has been injured a lot and he hasn’t the prominent position at his club yet. Van Persie might still become a big name in football, but he’ll need more time than he thinks…
www.worldcupblog.org
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Robin van Persie scored yesterday his first goal this World Cup. Dutch magazine Voetbal International has some facts about Robin's goals for the Dutch national team.
Top 10 goal scorers
Robin van Persie is the number 10 in the top 10 Dutch goal scorers. He scored 19 goals for Holland. Number 1 is Patrick Kluivert with 40 goals.
Players who scored at two different World Cup's
Robin van Persie is the fourth player who scored at two World Cup's (2006 and 2010). The three other players are Johnny Rep (1974 and 1978), Rob Rensenbrink (1974 and 1978) and Dennis Bergkamp (1994 and 1998).
Important goals
The Netherlands hasn't lost a match where Robin van Persie has scored. Robin scored 19 goals in 16 matches. Two of them were a draw, 14 matches a win for Holland. 10 of the 19 goals were scored in Euro and World Cup qualifications or tournaments.
Top goal scorer era Van Marwijk
Robin van Persie scored ten goals in the era of Dutch manager Bert van Marwijk. He's the top goal scorer of the current Dutch national team.
Strong at tournaments
Robin van Persie scored on all the three tournaments that he participated.
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Netherlands beat Cameroon 2-1 on Thursday to hold on to their 100 per cent record in the group phase of the 2010 World Cup. Attacker Robin van Persie was one of Oranje's star performers on the evening and the Arsenal star was full of confidence after the match.
"It feels very good to have scored my first goal at the World Cup. However, I'm more happy about the team play," Van Persie told reporters.
"Of course the goal is always good to have. I didn't play well in the first two games, so I'm happy with the confidence the manager's put in me to play me today.
"It's just amazing that we have a 100 per cent score after three games, but we still need to improve. I believe that only Argentina did that too. We had some good phases in the last few games but we need to build on that and play well for a longer period.
"Hopefully this will be our year, but we have to show now that we learned from the last two or three tournaments. Most of our guys have two, three or even four tournaments in their legs so hopefully we can show now that we learned from that.
"I do believe that we can win it, but we still need to do it."
Netherlands now face Slovakia — who knocked Italy out of the competition in dramatic style on Thursday — and the Arsenal striker is wary of the threat they face.
"The match against Slovakia will be a tough game, very tough," he noted.
"I saw bits and pieces of their game earlier on and for them to beat Italy like that, it is unbelievable, so we need to be really sharp."
www.goal.com
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Robin van Persie has been chosen to Man of the Match by the FIFA yesterday.
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Klaas Jan Huntelaar's late goal ensured Netherlands progressed to the last 16 of the World Cup with a 100% winning record in Group E.
Coach Bert van Marwijk's Dutch side, who will face Slovakia on Monday for a place in the quarter-finals, had to work harder than expected for the points against a spirited Cameroon side, who were already eliminated after losing their first two matches. Arjen Robben came off the bench to help give Van Marwijk's men their third win so far in South Africa.
Huntelaar fired home the rebound after Robben, who has had to wait to make his first appearance of the tournament because of injury, hit the post with a 20-yard drive.
Cameroon had gone behind when Robin van Persie finished off a neat move but levelled through Samuel Eto'o's penalty and will probably feel they deserved something from the game.
The African side enjoyed most of the early pressure and Aurelien Chedjou saw his snap-shot fly straight at goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg after he exchanged passes with Samuel Eto'o on the edge of the area.
Jean Makoun also sent a flicked header spinning over the bar from Benoit Assou-Ekotto's driven cross, but the Dutch were never really opened up at the back despite having defending to do.
Slowly but surely, Van Marwijk's men began to impose themselves on the game and they threatened for the first time when Giovanni Van Bronckhorst fed Van Persie but the Arsenal striker fired straight at Hamidou Souleymanou.
By now, Rafael van der Vaart and Wesley Sneijder were linking up well and, although Makoun headed over again at the other end, the Dutch were dominating possession and enjoying most of the openings too.
Dirk Kuyt should have done better when Khalid Boulahrouz found him in space in the area, only to fire his shot across the face of goal.
But Liverpool's Kuyt made amends when he started the move that saw his side take the lead after 21 minutes. He advanced to the edge of the area and slipped the ball to Van Persie, who exchanged passes with Van der Vaart before burying a low shot through the legs of Souleymanou.
Van Persie continued to look dangerous after the interval, bringing a diving save from Souleymanou after sprinting on to a long clearance.
But Cameroon were clearly keen to end their World Cup on a high note and responded strongly, with only an instinctive stop by Stekelenburg denying Makoun after he beat the offside trap.
Paul Le Guen's side did not have to wait long for an equaliser, however, as referee Pablo Pozo had no choice but to point to the spot after Geremi's free-kick clearly struck Van der Vaart's arm - and Eto'o stepped up to score his second goal of the tournament.
The Dutch had more defending to do in the closing stages but they weathered the storm and hit back to win the game with a devastating counter-attack.
Robben cut in from the right before sending a rasping shot against the post, and the ball bounced back perfectly into Huntelaar's path for him to fire into an empty net.
Cameroon 1-2 Netherlands
Van Persie, 36
Eto'o (pen), 65
Huntelaar, 83
Cameroon
* 16 Hamidou
* 02 Assou-Ekotto
* 03 N'Koulou (R Song, 73)
* 12 Bong (Aboubakar, 56)
* 07 N'Guemo
* 08 Geremi
* 11 Makoun
* 14 Chedjou
* 19 M'bia
* 09 Eto'o
* 13 Choupo-Moting (Idrissou, 72)
Netherlands
* 01 Stekelenburg
* 03 Heitinga
* 04 Mathijsen
* 05 Van Bronckhorst
* 12 Boulahrouz
* 06 Van Bommel
* 08 De Jong
* 10 Sneijder
* 23 Van der Vaart (Robben, 73)
* 07 Kuyt (Elia, 67)
* 09 Van Persie (Huntelaar, 58)
* Venue: Green Point Stadium
* Referee: P Pozo
* Attendance: 63,093
www.bbc.co.uk
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Holland coach Bert van Marwijk is confident Robin van Persie will soon be back to his best.
The Arsenal striker is yet to hit top gear at this summer's World Cup, with a long-term ankle problem having kept him out for the majority of the 2009/10 campaign.
He is still working his way back to full match sharpness and it is obvious that he needs more time in which to find his feet again.
The Dutch media have not been prepared to show such patience, with heavy criticism levelled at Van Persie followed lacklustre showings against Denmark and Japan.
Van Marwijk, though, is prepared to keep faith with the 26-year-old frontman and believes it is only a matter of time before he reignites.
Critic
"Robin has enough sense to be his own worst critic," he said.
"He is conscious that he did not play at his best level against either Denmark or Japan.
"He is not happy but he is going to get better, I am sure of that."
Van Persie did look sharp during pre-tournament warm-up matches, bagging four goals in three games, and Van Marwijk has vowed to stand by him when Holland wrap up their Group E fixtures against Cameroon.
"Robin was injured for a long time this past season and he needs to play in order to rediscover his level," he added.
"For this reason, I will start with him against Cameroon on Thursday."
www.skysports.com
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The Netherlands put themselves on the brink of qualification for the last 16 with a hard-fought victory in Durban over an impressively stubborn Japan side.
Wesley Sneijder's powerful 52nd-minute winner from just outside the box settled a fascinating Group E contest between two contrasting sides who opened up in the second half and were creating good chances right up to the final whistle.
The Dutch will qualify for the knockout stages before their final group game if Cameroon fail to beat Denmark later on Saturday, and are still likely to go through regardless.
Japan came into the match off the back of their first World Cup win on foreign soil after beating Cameroon 1-0 on Monday.
And the afterglow of that historic achievement was evident in the admirable tactical nous they executed in the first half as they stifled the Netherlands' search for fluid creativity with regimental efficiency in front of a near-full Moses Mabhida Stadium.
The Dutch, who are now unbeaten in 21 matches, started like a team full of quiet confidence as they kept possession well and used the width of Dirk Kuyt on the right and Rafael van der Vaart on the left.
Inter Milan midfielder Sneijder had the first clear chance but, on this occasion, could not keep his long-range shot, from a free-kick, down - a common sight in South Africa as players struggle to tame the much-criticised Jabulani ball.
When they did break up the Netherlands' passing, Grenoble midfielder Daisuke Matsui looked bright for Japan - instigating an incisive move that eventually resulted in Yuto Nagatomo hitting a stinging shot just wide.
The Asian side slowly began to frustrate the Dutch, who struggled to bring striker Robin van Persie into the game and lacked a killer pass.
And by the end of the first half Japan had relative control, with towering Brazilian-born defender Tulio heading just wide before Matsui lashed a decent volley straight at goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg.
But the Netherlands - who have never won the World Cup, despite a rich pedigree of world-class footballers - took the second half by the scruff of the neck, with Van Persie breaking free on a couple of occasions.
After a period of concerted pressure as the ball ricocheted around the box in the 52nd minute, the Arsenal striker managed to nudge it into the path of Sneijder.
Loitering just outside the penalty area, the Inter Milan star lashed a powerful right-foot shot towards goal that keeper Eiji Kawashima could only deflect into the net when he was well placed to make an effective save.
That moment liberated both teams and no longer could containment tactics be the limit of Japan's ambitions.
They responded in kind, Van Persie finding himself hooking a dangerous cross from substitute Shunsuke Nakamura over his own crossbar from within the six-yard box.
Hamburg's Eljero Elia came on as a substitute for Van der Vaart and nearly recreated the impression he had from the bench in the Netherlands' first match, cleverly releasing Ibrahim Allelay for a one on one, although his fellow substitute could not add a second with seven minutes remaining as Kawashima smothered his attempt.
Japan had the best chance to level the score one minute from time but unmarked substitute Shinji Okazaki fired over from 10 yards.
Seconds later, referee Hector Baldassi waved away penalty claims as Yuto Nagatomo went down under a challenge from Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong and the Dutch clung on to achieve maximum points from their opening two fixtures.
Netherlands 1-0 Japan
Sneijder, 53
Netherlands
* 01 Stekelenburg
* 02 Van Der Wiel
* 03 Heitinga
* 04 Mathijsen
* 05 Van Bronckhorst
* 06 Van Bommel
* 08 De Jong
* 10 Sneijder (Afellay, 82)
* 23 Van der Vaart (Elia, 72)
* 07 Kuyt
* 09 Van Persie (Huntelaar, 87)
Japan
* 21 Kawashima
* 03 Komano
* 04 Tanaka
* 05 Nagatomo
* 22 Nakazawa
* 02 Abe
* 07 Endo
* 08 Matsui (Nakamura, 64)
* 17 Hasebe Captain (Okazaki, 77)
* 18 Honda
* 16 Okubo (Tamada, 77)
* Venue: Moses Mabhida Stadium
* Referee: H Baldassi
* Attendance: 62,010
www.bbc.co.uk
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Robin plays together with his son Shaqueel in the video clip of Dutch hiphop star Ali B. You can watch a video about this clip with English subtitles here.
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Holland midfielder maestro Robin Van Persie is not taking Japan lightly as the Dutch prepare for their second Group game against Japan.
A team who stunned the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon when the Japanese defeated them 1-0 during their opening match in Bloemfontein on Monday.
Van Persie played a key role as Holland powered past Denmark during their first game winning 2-0.
As the two teams who are out in front in the group get ready to square off in Durban the Arsenal winger has been keeping a keen eye on the former Asian champions.
Of Japan’s shock win over Cameroon he said, "I think it was a decent game. Japan had a couple of chances and it was a good goal from Honda and a good finish by him."
While Van Persie plans to study them closer he does believe that having played against Japan in a friendly back in September last year, which Holland won 3-0, could help them plot their way to victory.
He added "we going to have a look at them over the next few days. We know them because we played them earlier in the season in Holland."
Quality the Dutch do possess and they showed it during their opening game win over Denmark.
One of the star finds of that victory was Eljero Elja and Van Persie had complimentary words of praise for the young Hamburg forward who played an influential role in Holland’s second goal in that game.
Elja’s ability to come off the bench and fit in quickly into the scheme of play shows the depth in quality the Dutch posses, Van Persie said of him, "he was very good when he came on and did very well. He had some good first touches a couple of times and he nearly scored, he was good."
In addition to the quality of his team mates Van Persie is hoping that the coastal city of Durban will be a sea of orange just as Soccer City was for their victory over Denmark, as the extra voices in the stands played a big part in motivating the team.
Of the support Holland received in the opening game which he is hoping will be duplicated in Durban Van Persie said, "I was a bit surprised to see so many Dutch fans because I heard someone saying that roughly 10 000 people in the Orange Kit were coming from Holland, but the South African people also came in Orange to support us which was a good choice."
www.mtnfootball.com
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Netherlands striker Robin van Persie showed enough of his old form in Monday's victory over Denmark to prove that he has fully recovered from a right ankle injury.
In front of a near capacity crowd at Soccer City, the 26-year-old Dutchman was a consistent thorn in the side of the Danish team. And it was his cross that led to the own goal that broke the deadlock a minute into the second half of the 2-0 win.
Van Persie, who missed much of the season for Arsenal because of injury, stayed close to the left side of the field and linked beautifully at times with Rafael van der Vaart and Wesley Sneijder. He picked up a yellow card in the 49th minute and was replaced in the 77th, but teammate Eljero Elia said that was because of fears of getting another booking.
"He's had a long injury and now he's almost 100 per cent and I think it's good to know that in a game like that he can start and now he can play better," Van der Vaart said.
Van Persie's fitness and ability to keep cool will be crucial if the Netherlands can finally land the biggest prize in football. In the run-up to the tournament, Van Persie lifted the spirits of a team that won all eight of its qualifying games.
In the 61st minute, Van Persie was lucky not to get a second caution when he beat Denmark goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen after being put through. However, the whistle had gone for offside.
French referee Stephane Lannoy had a word with the Dutchman, who motioned that the incessant vuvuzela din was behind his apparent failure to hear the whistle.
Without him at Arsenal, the Premier League teram's attack often lacked bite despite a wealth of talent.
The Netherlands play Japan next on Saturday, June 19 in Durban.
www.thecanadianpress.com
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A freak own goal from Denmark defender Daniel Agger helped Netherlands on their way to victory in the World Cup Group E contest at Soccer City.
After a tight first half, the crucial breakthrough came moments after the break as Simon Poulsen tried to head a Robin van Persie cross clear only for the ball to strike Agger on the back and fly past a wrong-footed Thomas Sorensen.
At the time the goal was harsh on Denmark after Morten Olsen's side matched the Dutch in the opening period, but they offered little having fallen behind and can have few complaints about the result.
The Dutch wrapped it up with five minutes left when lively substitute Eljero Elia raced on to a through ball and after his shot struck the post, Dirk Kuyt tapped in the rebound to add gloss to the scoreline.
But in truth, the ninth game of the tournament followed many of its predecessors as both teams struggled for any sort of fluency and neither could find any real attacking momentum in the Johannesburg sunshine.
With World Cup greats Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane watching on from the stands, it provided another sharp reminder that, Germany apart, so far this tournament has significantly failed to provide the entertaining, creative football many had expected.
Netherlands were many people's dark horses coming into the competition, but, missing the wing play of the injured Arjen Robben, they struggled to find a way through a dogged Danish defence.
Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder and Van Persie all threatened to deliver in the early stages, but the Dutch build-up was too laboured and with Denmark getting men behind the ball they managed to frustrate Bert van Marwijk's side.
After Van der Vaart had a shot deflected behind and then curled narrowly off target it seemed as though Netherlands had found their feet, but that only prompted the best spell Denmark had in the game.
The Scandinavians burst into life as Nicklas Bendtner headed a gilt-edged chance wide from six yards, Dennis Rommedahl shot straight at Martin Stekelenburg and then Thomas Kahlenberg forced a fine save from the Ajax stopper.
Unfortunately for Denmark, that was as good as it got as, seconds after the restart, Poulsen and Agger's calamitous moment gave the Dutch an initiative they never looked likely to surrender.
Denmark had no answer to falling behind and the Netherlands began to press for a second they knew would put the result beyond doubt as Van der Vaart brought a sprawling save from an increasingly extended Sorensen.
When the Dutch brought on Elia his pace and directness presented another problem the Danes could not deal with and after Sneijder's shot was deflected on to the bar, the goal that killed the game arrived soon after.
Elia's pace took him clear of the static Danish backline and after his shot stuck the post, Kuyt was only hand to wrap up the three points for the jubilant Dutch.
The nearly had another in the closing stages, only for Poulsen to produce a fabulous clearance with an overhead kick, but the damage had already been done and the Netherlands' World Cup campaign got off to a winning start.
Netherlands 2-0 Denmark
Agger (og), 46
Kuyt, 85
Netherlands
* 01 Stekelenburg
* 02 Van Der Wiel
* 03 Heitinga
* 04 Mathijsen
* 05 Van Bronckhorst
* 06 Van Bommel
* 08 De Jong (De Zeeuw, 88)
* 10 Sneijder
* 23 Van der Vaart (Elia, 67)
* 07 Kuyt
* 09 Van Persie (Afellay, 77)
Denmark
* 01 Sorensen
* 03 Kjaer
* 04 Agger
* 06 Jacobsen
* 15 Poulsen
* 02 Poulsen
* 10 Jorgensen
* 12 Kahlenberg (Eriksen, 72)
* 20 Enevoldsen (Gronkjaer, 56)
* 11 Bendtner (Beckmann, 62)
* 19 Rommedahl
Venue: Soccer City
Referee: Lannoy
Attendance: 83,465
www.bbc.co.uk
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Holland arrived this morning at the airport of Johannesburg. Holland will stay in the Hilton Sandton Hotel in Johannesburg. They will train at one of the sport fields of Wits University. The first training is tomorrow morning 11.30 South African time.
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Robin van Persie arrived in South Africa last night knowing he’s in the best form of his life.
He was Holland’s top scorer in the qualifying campaign and has been the star of their World Cup countdown friendlies.
Fitness worries about the ankle ligament damage he suffered in a friendly against Italy have disappeared.
Now the 26-year-old Arsenal star wants to prove his ability on the ultimate world stage and show Arsene Wenger was right to praise him to the skies.
Van Persie said: “Arsene Wenger said at the end of this season, once I’d come back into the team, that people would have been talking about me like Lionel Messi if I had not been injured.
“I can see what the manager meant when he said those things. But I still think I am not in the same class until I have gone a long period without an injury.
“And I want to go through next season where I score 30 goals and have 20 assists.
“Only then I will turn around to the manager and say, ‘Yes boss, you are right’.
“But I admit that I have a massive desire to get to the level of Messi, Rooney and Ronaldo. And I’d rather do it today than tomorrow.
“I think Messi is an absolute giant in the game. Not so much because of his dribbles and actions. That’s why most people rate him.
“But I think, differently from others, that he is phenomenal in his teamplay and combination play.” Van Persie knows his club went through another season without a trophy.
Twelve months ago he had the chance to join Chelsea, Inter Milan, Juventus and Manchester City. He turned them all down and maintains that he does not get frustrated at Arsenal.
“I’m 26 and have won three trophies; the UEFA Cup, the FA Cup and the Charity Shield.
“Yes, I class that as a trophy too. It’s a one-off game with 80,000 people watching and a lot of pressure.
“I’ve always said that I want to win as many trophies as possible in my career, but not at any price.
“What I am trying to say is that I will work my socks off to get the maximum out of my career, but I won’t move to a club which does not play my style of football.
“Dennis Bergkamp is, in my eyes, still ‘The Master’. The fact that he never won the Champions League, the European Championship or the World Cup does not take anything away from his greatness as a player.
“Of course I love silverware in my football career. But sometimes you can’t rush from A to Z.’’
Van Persie knows his comments last week, when he said he preferred to play with Robben, Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart instead of Liverpool’s Dirk Kuyt, caused a major stir in the Dutch camp. He explained: “I respect Dirk so much. This guy is getting the maximum from his career. He is a massive example to players who are really good and to players who are less talented.
“At Feyenoord we were team-mates. When he joined, there was a lot of scepticism, people did not think he could do it. Will he make it as a player? But he made it, and how!
“Technically Dirk has improved a lot. He can play with Torres and Steven Gerrard, that means a lot.’’
Van Persie pushed hard to get Arsenal to sign Van der Vaart from Real Madrid last year and he said: “It is a pity we didn’t sign him.
“We used to be big rivals in national youth teams and did not get on as young lads. It was Marco van Basten who told us in the last World Cup to create a stronger bond.
“He said, ‘If you and Rafael work closely together, you will both rise another level in your game’. He was dead right. We understand each other so well on the pitch.
“Van der Vaart has said that, if Arsenal don’t sign him, I’ll have to join him in Madrid!
“But I don’t think that is for me. Real is a fantastic club but the speed of managers and players coming and going is frightening. It must give them neck ache, looking who is coming in and going out.
“They have this philosophy: You did not win anything this year. There is the door and here is a couple of million to buy you off. Ready for the next purchase.
“I prefer the philosophy of Arsenal and Barcelona.
“With Holland we must never play counter attacking football. Thank God we don’t do that, either.”
www.mirror.co.uk
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Arjen Robben is in danger of missing the World Cup finals.
The Holland star sustained a torn hamstring in his team’s 6-1 friendly win over Hungary yesterday.
The Dutch medical team were awaiting results.
Robin van Persie, the Holland and Arsenal striker, said: “We fear the worst. When I see something like that it’s hard to be optimistic. I saw the agony on his face.
“When you can’t walk off and drag your injured leg along, you know what’s coming next. This could be a massive blow to us.”
www.mirror.co.uk
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A stunning second-half fightback saw Holland run out 6-1 winners in their final World Cup warm-up game against Hungary at the Amsterdam ArenA.
The victory came at a cost with Arjen Robben forced from the action with a left hamstring injury, and Oranje coach Bert van Marwijk will be hoping the World Cup injury jinx that has struck so many big-name players this week does not come to include the Bayern Munich winger.
Robben is due to undergo a scan on Sunday, but was on fine form before the injury struck late on, scoring twice after coming on as a substitute at the interval.
Robin van Persie, Wesley Sneijder, Mark van Bommel and Eljero Elia were also on target for the Dutch, who fell behind to Balazs Dzudzsak's shock opener for Hungary.
Holland were caught napping for the opener which arrived on six minutes.
Sandor Torghelle's long ball from his own half was collected with ease by Dzsudzsak, who dispatched a powerful shot into the top-left corner of Maarten Stekelenburg's net from the edge of the area.
The hosts were back on level terms after 22 minutes when Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt crossed from the right wing and Arsenal striker Van Persie lashed home.
Hungary looked good value for the draw at the interval with the Oranje offering little in the way of attacking threat, but all that changed in the second period as the hosts hit their stride.
Holland went ahead after 56 minutes when Giovanni Van Bronckhorst picked out Wesley Sneijder and the Inter Milan midfielder fired home from close range.
Feyenoord veteran Van Bronckhorst was again the provider eight minutes later when he crossed from the left and Robben side-footed home from six yards.
Van Bommel made it 4-1 after 71 minutes after being played in by Robben while Elia added a fifth from the left side of the area four minutes later as Van Bommel turned provider.
Robben completed the scoring with a stunning sixth from the edge of area 12 minutes from time but the day would end on a sour note for the former Chelsea playmaker, who faces an anxious wait to discover whether his World Cup dream remains intact.
Netherlands: Stekelenburg, van der Wiel, Heitinga (Ooijer 61), Mathijsen, van Bronckhorst, van Bommel (de Zeeuw 79), de Jong, Kuyt (Robben 46), Sneijder (Elia 73), van der Vaart (Afellay 80), van Persie (Huntelaar 68).
Hungary: Fülüp, Bodnár (Laczkó 76), Vanczák, Juhasz, Szelesi, Dzsudzsák, Horváth (Vadócz 80), Bodor, Huszti (Lázok 68), Torghelle (Elek 58), Priskin.
Goals: Dzsudzsák 0-1 '6, van Persie 1-1 '21, Sneijder 2-1 '56, Robben 3-1 '64, van Bommel 4-1 '71, Elia 5-1 '74, Robben 6-1 '78.
Booked: Lázok
Att: 48,000
Ref: Meyer (Germany)
www.sportinglife.com
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Holland legend Ruud Gullit believes that Arsenal striker Robin van Persie will turn out to be the star of the World Cup, emulating the feat of another Dutch star.
Gullit thinks that stars like Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney will not succeed in South Africa due to strenuous club seasons.
After sitting out for five months with a severe ankle injury van Persie is now fit and ready for the World Cup.
The former Dutch captain feels that the Gunners hitman could repeat what Marco van Basten did at the Euro 1988.
Van Basten also struggled through an injury-riddled season before scoring a tournament high five goals as Holland won the European championship and Gullit thinks that van Persie can accomplish the same feat as his former team-mate in South Africa.
“I say Van Persie will be a big star for us because I see the same pattern I did with Van Basten, Gullit told the Daily Star.
“He was injured in 1988 and then he came back into shape. We ended up doing very well, and he was the reason. He was that good at that moment.
“It could be an advantage for Holland that Van Persie was injured and he now comes back. He’s fresh, eager, hungry.
“He doesn’t want his rest, he wants to play, to score goals. Right now, Rooney is injured, and he’s played all year, all season, in many many games.
“I’m always worried about the stars that played so well with their clubs, about whether they can do so well with their country.
“I’ve never seen it happen. It’s very difficult to do after a tiring season. Also you have a little break before the World Cup where they can lose momentum.
“It’s hard to say Rooney can do the same for England as he has with United. It’s hard to say Messi or Ronaldo or Kaka can."
The 47-year-old, who won 66 caps for Holland in his international career, stressed that it is not the amount of goals that you score but it is the importance of the goals that is important in the World Cup.
“Van Persie’s injury was a tragedy for him, and for Arsenal it was bad also. But for Holland it was maybe a good thing.
“I spoke with him recently, and saw him in Holland when he was trying to come back from his injury. He looks very good. It’s difficult to score a lot of goals at the World Cup and I think you will have to score six or seven to be the top scorer. But he could do it.
“The most important thing is that you score goals that make sense. If you score three goals in a game where you win 5-0, there’s no significance.
“But if you score a goal in every game and win one or two-nil, that makes a big difference.”
www.goal.com
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Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk seems to have built a solid framework for his team who cruised to a 4-1 World Cup warm-up win over Ghana on Tuesday.
Dirk Kuyt cut in from the right flank to open the scoring after half-an-hour when he netted a rebound after goalkeeper Richard Kingson blocked a shot from Robin van Persie.
The Dutch added three more in the last 20 minutes although a defensive blunder by Joris Mathijsen allowed Asamoah Gyan to pull a goal back five minutes after Rafael van der Vaart had doubled the home side's lead in the 73rd minute.
Wesley Sneijder then got the best goal of the night against a disappointing World Cup-bound Ghana side when he volleyed home from a Van der Vaart corner from outside the area.
Striker Van Persie added a fourth from the penalty spot, his third goal in two matches, after Kingson fouled Van der Vaart.
With only Arjen Robben missing, with a minor hip strain, Van Marwijk gave midfielder Ibrahim Afellay a run out and reserve goalkeepers Michel Vorm and Sander Boschker played a half each.
The coach had named his 23-man squad for the finals on May 27, the day after Netherlands beat Mexico 2-1 with a Van Persie double in a friendly played in Freiburg, Germany.
They host Hungary on Saturday in their final warm-up match before travelling to South Africa, where they face Denmark on June 14 followed by Japan and Cameroon in Group E.
Netherlands: Stekelenburg (Boschker 46), Van der Wiel, Mathijsen, Heitinga, Van Bronckhorst, De Jong, Van Bommel, Kuyt (Babel 73), Sneijder (Elia 83), Afellay (Van der Vaart 63), Van Persie.
Ghana: Kingson, Pantsil, Addy, Vorsah (Mensah 46), Sarpei, Owusu Abeyie (Adiyiah 46), Annan, Appiah (Tagoe 46), Boateng, Muntari (Ayew 46), Amoah (Asamoah 46).
Booked: Adiyiah, Gyan, Mensah.
Goals: Kuyt 1-0 '30, Van der Vaart 2-0 '72, A. Gyan 2-1 '73, Sneijder 3-1 '80, Van Persie 4-1 '87 (pen).
Att: 35.000
Ref: Moen
www.reuters.com
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