Netherlands - 2 Ivory Coast - 1: A day after the English won poorly but spoke gamely of better things to come, it was time for two of their rivals to lay their credentials out on the table for everyone to see. It's fair to say they didn't disappoint.
Group C's top dogs must still meet next week to decide who will progress as winners but the stakes will be no higher than that after the Netherlands followed Argentina's mid-afternoon rout of Serbia and Montenegro with a display of considerable character to edge a far tighter contest with the Ivory Coast and join the South Americans in the last 16.
"I'm proud of my players because they fought until the very last moment and that takes a lot of strength," said Dutch coach Marco van Basten. "But I'm also relieved because I saw Argentina win on television, I saw how strong they are and I'm happy not to have to play a decisive game against them."
First-half goals from Robin van Persie and Ruud van Nistelrooy proved enough to yield the win required to spare the Dutch that fate. But while they showed considerable resolve to preserve their lead late on, their West African opponents never gave up on the game either, Henri Michel's side pushing relentlessly until the final whistle to salvage something after Bakary Kone had halved the deficit seven minutes before half-time.
Like their defeat by Argentina, the result was harsh on the debutants, a side that mixed power and pace with some panache.
Despite the second defeat they might well be the best side to go home after the opening phase, and on the strength of their performances so far their future looks bright, particularly when you consider that just two of yesterday's starting line-up (Didier Drogba and goalkeeper Jean Jacques Tizie) are over 25.
"They can be proud of themselves because they've made a huge impression with the way they've played in their two games but they were unlucky to come up against two strong teams," remarked Arjen Robben, who picked up a second consecutive man-of-the-match award despite some instances of selfishness in the second half - which Robin van Persie had accused him after the opening game.
If his stealing the limelight on that occasion had irritated van Persie, it was the Arsenal man who initially took centre stage here. The 22-year-old spent much of last season patiently improving his play with his right foot on the basis that he would not dislodge his rival from Chelsea on the left.
The results have been impressive and it was one of his troublesome runs toward the area midway through the first half that ultimately led to the opening goal. Kolo Toure tripped his club team-mate just outside the area, and van Persie stepped up to thunder the ball past wall and goalkeeper with his favoured left foot.
Even then the Africans were giving as good as they got but they suffered a second blow just four minutes later when Robben released van Nistelrooy, who, having beaten the offside trap, calming slotted the ball past Tizie.
In the second half the striker, like Johnny Heitinga at the break, went off injured, but his replacement, Denny Landzaat, did little to alter the pattern of a game now being dominated by the Ivory Coast.
The shift in their favour had occurred after the second goal, van Basten and his players admitting they had taken their foot off the gas. And when they sensed things were slipping away from them, they found it hard to recover momentum.
Before the half-hour was up, Didier Zokora had shaken the Dutch crossbar with a curling shot from distance. And soon after, they fuelled hopes of a comeback when Kone scored a superb goal, his shot to the top-left corner coming after he had powered past Joris Mathijsen and Heitinga and before Gio van Bronckhorst could close him down.
Their chief threat up front, Drogba was as erratic as ever, but he had his moments and the Dutch centre backs never looked comfortable when he was around. And the Chelsea striker almost the made the breakthrough 13 minutes from time when he headed a corner from the right back toward the near post only for van Persie to coolly chest the ball off the line.
When the whistle came the Dutch made no attempt to disguise their relief, the celebrations taking some time to conclude. It might be the last time they have something worth shouting about, but whoever meets them in the knockout stages (their first opponents will come from Group D) will know they can play quality football.
SUBSTITUTIONS
NETHERLANDS: Boulahrouz for Heitinga (45 mins), Van der Vaart for Sneijder (50 mins), Landzaat for van Nistelrooy (73 mins). Subs not used: Babel, De Cler, Jaliens, Kromkamp, Kuyt, Maduro, Stekelenburg, Timmer, Vennegoor of Hesselink. Booked: Robben, Mathijsen, Van Bommel, Boulahrouz.
IVORY COAST: Tizie, Eboue, Kolo Toure, Meite, Boka, Zokora, Gneri Yaya Toure, Romaric (Yapi Yapo 61), Arouna Kone (Akale 73), Bakari Kone (Dindane 62), Drogba. Subs not used: Barry, Demel, Domoraud, Fae, Gnanhouan, Kalou, Keita, Kouassi, Zoro. Booked: Zokora, Drogba, Boka.
Referee: Julian Oscar Ruiz Acosta (Colombia).
