World Cup 2010: Dirk Kuyt taps in to seal win for Holland over Denmark

Posted Tuesday, June 15, 2010 by theguardian.com

Holland 2 Agger (og) 46, Kuyt 85
Denmark 0

Whisper it softly, but though Holland got off to a winning start in Group E their performance was not that much better than England's. The Dutch fans must be hoping their team are slow starters too.

Holland did not concede a comedy goal like England, but they mostly owed their victory to farcical generosity from the Denmark defence, who donated a needless own goal just as they were gaining the upper hand. Robin van Persie's cross at the beginning of the second half was met with a poor clearance from Simon Poulsen, whose header back across goal was deflected past Thomas Sorensen by an unwitting Daniel Agger.

Both Van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner were quiet, but if that assist put the former ahead in the contest between Arsenal strikers he passed up a glorious opportunity to put his side further ahead a few minutes later; a shocking first touch to Dirk Kuyt's defence-opening pass showing Sorensen far too much of the ball.

The Dutch only really improved in the last 20 minutes following the introduction of Eljero Elia, who plays with Shaun Wright-Phillips's speed, directness and deceptive ability to ride tackles, but comes with an end product as well. The winger made far more inroads down the left than the disappointing Rafael van der Vaart had managed, and it was no surprise when he was involved in the second goal. Running on to an astute pass into the box, his shot was touched on to the far post by Sorensen for Kuyt to tap in the rebound.

The highlight of a pedestrian first half was a decent effort by Thomas Kahlenberg after 37 minutes, forcing Maarten Stekelenburg to push his rising drive round a post after good work by Bendtner had given him a shooting opportunity. If that does not sound like much of a highlight, it was not much of a first half. The World Cup is still waiting for the game that gets everyone talking and applies lighted match to touch-paper, and this certainly was not the fixture. Holland looked sharper and more purposeful early on, though all that amounted to was a couple of chances for Van der Vaart which he was not quite sharp enough to accept.

Gradually Denmark played their way into the game, gratefully realising that Holland were not pinning them back and getting forward so well that by half-time they had just about the best chances. Dennis Rommedahl brought a good save from Stekelenburg just after the half-hour, though he sent his firm shot straight at the goalkeeper, and Bendtner headed narrowly wide when a Rommedahl cross unexpectedly reached him at the far post.

All this promise went to waste through the own goal, and the Dutch were comfortable at the end, with Wesley Sneijder – the official man of the match – hitting the bar just before Kuyt's goal.