Afellay and Carew exchanged half chances, and then Dirk Kuyt came closest when he rattled the crossbar. Norway then fell behind to the Oranje midway through the second half when Rafael van der Vaart’s corner fell to Mark van Bommel, who struck a low volley from outside the box that nestled in the bottom corner.

Van der Vaart’s delicious left wing cross was gobbled up by Joris Mathijsen to give Holland a 15th minute advantage. Klass-Jan Huntelaar wrapped up the win with a clinical strike in the second half.

In carrozza gli Orange contro un cliente tutt’altro che comodo. Le reti di Mathijsen e Huntelaar danno l’allungo in classifica all’Olanda, che stasera aveva in porta Van der Sar a causa degli infortuni ai portieri “titolari”. L’estremo difensore del Manchester United, in teoria, aveva detto addio alla Nazionale; ma vista questa emergenza ha risposto presente.

Robin van Persie put the Dutch in front with a terrific left-footed curling effort. Zyrianov equalised from the penalty spot with twelve minutes to go.

Diego Maradona was on hand to watch Lionel Messi give Argentina the lead over Holland, the diminutive forward bursting through the middle before coolly slotting home the opener. But the Dutch drew level in the 36th minute, a deflected free-kick fell into the path of Otman Bakkal, who scored from inside the six yard box.

Il campione del Barcellona Messi è la vera anima della nazionale sudamericana: contro l’Olanda ancora un gol e un assist decisivi nella vittoria per 2-1. Adesso in semifinale sarà derby sudamericano col suo ex compagno di squadra Ronaldinho.

Guus Hiddink’s Russia outplayed Netherlands but needed two extra-time goals to win 3-1 and qualify for the semi-finals of Euro 2008. Russia were the better side throughout a match that was ordinary for the most part, with the usual Euro 2008 late drama sealed by a virtuoso performance from little Andrei Arshavin, who must now be the main candidate for player of the tournament.

I russi si impongono 3-1 ai supplementari grazie a Pavlyuchenko, Torbinskiy e Arshavin. Agli oranje non basta il centro di Van Nilstelrooy, che all’86′ aveva allungato una partita giocata meglio dalla squadra rivelazione di questo Europeo. Ora la Russia aspetta la vincente di Italia-Spagna.

Romania’s Euro 2008 quarter-final dream died as they lost 2-0 to the Netherlands with goals from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Robin van Persie. A win for Victor Piturca’s side would have guaranteed progression, while a draw would have been enough if the match in Zurich between World Cup finalists Italy and France also ended in stalemate. However optimism turned to trepidation then despair as first Ajax man Huntelaar then Arsenal’s Van Persie finished clinically either side of half-time.

Il terzo successo consecutivo degli Oranje condanna Mutu e Chivu, troppo tesi e poco concreti. I gol nella ripresa: apre Huntelaar, chiude Van Persie. L’Italia ringrazia.

The Netherlands qualified for the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 with a superb 4-1 victory over France at the Stade de Suisse Wankdorf in Berne. Dirk Kuyt’s header gave them an early lead, and France spurned a series of chances to equalise before Arjen Robben teed up Robin van Persie for the Netherlands’s second. Thierry Henry halved the deficit with 20 minutes to play, but Robben scored within a minute to put the tie beyond the French and Wesley Sneijder added a fitting coup de grace with a stunning shot into the top-left corner in injury time. The win puts the Netherlands into the last eight as group winners, while France must beat Italy in their final group game to stand any chance of progressing.

La squadra di Van Basten supera i Bleus 4-1 con gol di Kuyt, Van Persie, Robben e Sneijder, inutile l’acuto di Henry. Oranje già matematicamente ai quarti da primi del girone. All’Italia una vittoria con la Francia basterà in caso di mancata vittoria della Romania con gli olandesi.

Goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wesley Sneijder and Giovanni van Bronckhorst gave the Netherlands a stunning 3-0 victory over world champions Italy in their Euro 2008 Group C opener at the Stade de Suisse Wankdorf in Berne. Van Nistelrooy gave Marco van Basten’s men the lead when he tapped home from an offside position after 26 minutes, before Sneijder extended their advantage with a breath-takingly well-executed team goal five minutes later.

Esordio da dimenticare per gli azzurri: la nazionale di Van Basten vince 3-0 con le reti di Van Nistelrooy, Sneijder e Van Bronckhorst. Cambi tardivi di Donadoni che fa entrare Cassano soltanto a 15′ dalla fine. La macchia umana arancione che occupa quasi tutto lo Stade de Suisse di Berna, straripa in campo e inghiotte quel che resta dell’azzurro. Ci aspettano ancora Romania e Francia, ma il 3-0 con cui l’Olanda batte l’Italia è devastante perché apre vistose crepe in ogni reparto, rendendo francamente impensabile un riscatto. Sul banco degli imputati sale tutta la squadra, ma a Donadoni va lo scettro di peggiore in campo: scelte sbagliate e cambi ritardati.