Netherlands 2 Romania 0IT WAS a noteworthy achievement for Romania to have taken the most fiendish group at the European Championship down to its final round. Ultimately, though, Victor Piturca's spirited but largely toothless team could not find life after death.
The only pre-match permutation that mattered to them was that victory would have ensured a quarter-final date with Spain on Sunday. That Italy will now enjoy the pleasure was never seriously in doubt as Romania froze. Defensive resilience has been a feature of their play in qualification and here at the finals but when they had to show adventure last night, they failed. Adrian Mutu apart, they went out with a whimper.
The ridiculous notion Holland would lose and so ensure Italy and France would be eliminated was exposed as exactly that. The Oranje strolled to victory, with second-half goals from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and the excellent Robin van Persie. With almost all of their first-choice players on the bench, Holland still impressed.
The Dutch starting XI, which featured nine changes from the team that played France last Friday - Khalid Boulahrouz and Orlando Engelaar were the survivors - would have fuelled the conspiracy theories. Even Piturca had said on the eve of the game "for their own good, they (Holland) shouldn't play against France or Italy in the semi-finals".
Van Basten's team had experience and quality - particularly up front - and every player was determined to put pressure on the coach before his team selection for the quarter-final on Saturday.
Holland started on the front foot, passing the ball with confidence and Van Persie roaming with menace from his central position behind Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
No team that includes Van Persie and Arjen Robben should be labelled as second string and it was Holland who looked the more purposeful in the first half.
They ought to have led at the interval, having spurned two glorious opportunities. With Ibrahim Afellay tucking in, Boulahrouz enjoyed space on the overlap from right-back and, just after the half hour, he cut back for Huntelaar who, despite being well placed, lifted over the bar.
Moments later, Huntelaar's flick from Demy de Zeeuw's ball ushered Robben clean through on goal. The Real Madrid winger, though, rolled the ball wide.
Piturca is not the most demonstrative of characters but he frequently cut an agitated figure as his team struggled to settle, their play undermined by nervousness, too many passes going astray.
Despite their need to score if they were to enjoy control of their destiny, Romania were content to keep things tight in the first half and try to strike on the counter.
Their best moment came in the 44th minute when Mutu found Razvan Rat on the overlap and his pull-back fell perfectly for Paul Codrea. As Romanian hearts skipped beats, Codrea blazed over.
The goal that Holland had threatened to score came early in the second half. After Van Persie had pulled down a high ball with a sublime touch, cut back and forced Bogdan Lobont into a save, his team marauded forward again, this time down the right. Afellay crossed hard and low and when Engelaar dummied, Huntelaar was presented with a side-footed chance from close range, which he acceptedly nonchalantly.
Mutu was moved from the left into more central areas, as the need for Romania to press increased. However, Maarten Stekelenburg, the stand-in Dutch goalkeeper, remained a virtual bystander.
NETHERLANDS:Stekelenburg, Boulahrouz (Melchiot 58), Heitinga, Bouma, De Cler, De Zeeuw, Engelaar, Afellay, Van Persie, Robben (Kuyt 62), Huntelaar (Vennegoor of Hesselink 82). Subs not used: Van der Sar, Timmer, Ooijer, Mathijsen, Van Bronckhorst, van Nistelrooy, Sneijder, De Jong, Van der Vaart.
ROMANIA:Lobont, Contra, Tamas, Ghionea, Rat, Cocis, Codrea (Dica 72), Chivu, Nicolita (Petre 82), Marius Niculae (Daniel Niculae 59), Mutu. Subs not used: Popa, Stancioiu, Marica, Sapunaru, Moti, Cristea, Radu. Booked: Chivu.
Referee:Massimo Busacca (Switzerland).
