Netherlands 4-1 France: Devastating Dutch dismantle feckless French

NETHERLANDS 4
Kuyt (10), Van Persie,(59), Robben (72), Sneijder (90)
FRANCE 1
Henry (71)

FIVE days ago, the Netherlands were the side many predicted might be the fall guys in the mother of all Groups of Death. Instead, it was France who joined Italy at the bottom of Group C last night as Scotland's opponents in the 2010 World Cup clinched three more remarkable points to reach the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 with a game to spare.

If the 4-1 win was slightly harsh on France and not always as convincing as that which dispatched the world champions, also by three goals, on Monday, it was a sublime display of counter-attacking football by Marco van Basten's team and turned the tournament on its head, with the 2006 World Cup finalists now in serious danger of elimination.

Van Basten wasn't completely satisfied, however. He said: "We didn't play as well we did against Italy. We started well but in the middle of first half, we didn't play very good football and had a few a problems with their pressure. Luckily we were able to defend quite well and in the second half I made a couple of changes which thankfully worked.

"If you ask me if I expected to be in the quarter-finals after two matches, of course I would have to say no. Today if truth be told we were a little bit lucky but scoring goals at the right moment helps a lot."

French coach Raymond Domenech rued the referee's refusal to award a penalty when Thierry Henry's shot struck a Dutch arm in the box after the interval. "We did try but poor finishing, the opponents' goalkeeper and the refereeing stopped us from scoring the goal that could have put us back into the match," Domenech said.

"It's a pity we didn't have video. I don't like looking for excuses but this is not an excuse, it was an arm."

In the build-up to the match, William Gallas admitted that his side would have to change their style and take more risks, and Domenech responded by restoring Henry, France's all-time top scorer with 44 goals, in place of Nicolas Anelka as one of three changes. Van Basten, in his 50th game in charge, not surprisingly sent out an unchanged side, with Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink again among the substitutes.

It was obvious straight away that France were in a different mood, taking the game to their opponents but also taking no prisoners as Claude Makelele clattered into Dirk Kuyt and was lucky to escape a booking. But with just ten minutes on the clock, they were rocked back by the simplest of set-pieces, Rafael van der Vaart's corner headed home by Kuyt with the French marking, and Florent Malouda in particular on the eve of his 28th birthday, all over the place.

The goal sent the orange-clad hoardes into a frenzy but despite trailing, the French continued to look a lot more convincing than they did on Monday, when they had only one shot on goal. Only Edwin van der Sar's outstretched leg thwarted Sidney Govou while Franck Ribery began to live up to his star billing, showing great touches.

Makalele, imposing himself far too dangerously on Van der Vaart, at last went into the book but France were getting closer, Van der Sar saving in quick succession from Malouda – who owed his team one after failing to prevent Kuyt's goal – Govou and Ribery. Henry was narrowly wide with a trademark turn and shot reminiscent of his Arsenal days but Van Basten's team were cheered off at half-time after tenaciously keeping their lead.

France once again came bursting out of the traps after the break, their players surrounding the German referee to no avail after Henry's fierce shot struck the arm of Blackburn's Andre Ooijer. As France's hopes receded with every passing minute, Henry missed a chance he would have taken with his eyes shut a couple of seasons ago, pouncing on to Malouda's flicked pass but clipping the ball over the bar.

Van Basten made another change, a straight swap between Robin van Persie and Kuyt, and Sneijder immediately proved how threatening his team could still be on the counter with a dangerous header. France didn't read the script and in a matter of moments, Van Basten's subs doubled the lead. On 59 minutes, Arjen Robben collected Van Nistelrooy's cheeky backheel and burst down the left. Van Persie was quickest to react to the pinpoint cross though Gregory Coupet can consider himself unlucky not to have stopped it creeping over the line.

This time, you could not help but feel sorry for the French, who didn't deserve to be two behind. With 20 minutes left they gave themselves a fighting chance with a glorious near-post flick from Henry. But instead of building on that, once again the 2006 World Cup finalists just couldn't defend. Straight from the kick-off, Robben restored Holland's two-goal lead, cutting inside a shaky-looking Lilian Thuram and thumping the ball past Coupet.

A demoralised France took off Govou and replaced him with Anelka, only for Van Nistelrooy – who deserved a goal for a sublime performance – to stretch for a lofted header that had Coupet scrambling back and palming the ball away just before it nestled in the corner.

There was worse to come for the French. With virtually the last kick of the game, Sneijder turned and shot in one movement and Coupet couldn't get near it. What a game.

Netherlands: Van der Sar, Boulahrouz, Ooijer, Mathijsen, Van Bronckhorst, De Jong, Engelaar (Robben 46), Kuyt (Van Persie 55), Van der Vaart (Bouma 78), Sneijder, van Nistelrooy. Subs not used: Timmer, Stekelenburg, Heitinga, De Zeeuw, Melchiot, De Cler, Huntelaar, Afellay, Vennegoor of Hesselink.

France: Coupet, Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas, Evra, Govou (Anelka 75), Toulalan, Makelele, Malouda (Gomis 60), Ribery, Henry. Subs not used: Mandanda, Frey, Boumsong, Abidal, Vieira, Benzema, Nasri, Clerc, Squillaci, Diarra.