Arjen Robben made his return to the Dutch lineup with an 18th minute goal, with Wesley Sneijder’s late tally leading to a 2-1 victory Monday over Slovakia, putting the Netherlands into the quarterfinals of the 2010 World Cup.
World Cup 2010: Netherlands Downs Slovakia With Goals From Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder
It was a controlled if unspectacular performance by the Dutch, who looked the better side but gave the Slovaks multiple second half opportunities to equalize. Robert Vittek, who would convert a penalty kick in second half stoppage time, missed an opportunity for 12 yards half-way through the period, with a Juraj Kucka shot from distance testing Maarten Stekelenburg moments before.
At that time, the Dutch were resting on Robben’s goal, a left-footed shot from 22-yards that beat Jan Mucha to his near post. Robben had run onto a long ball and was on a break against two Slovak defenders when he cut-in from the right and hit his shot.
That was the only scoring until the 84th minute, when Dirk Kuyt beat Mucha to a ball at the right edge of the penalty area. With the `keeper out, Kuyt rolled a ball across to box for Sneijder, whose easy finish gave him his second goal of the tournament.
Ten minutes later, deep into second half stoppage time, Vittek was brought down in the box by Stekelenburg, with the Slovakian attacker converting a penalty kick for his fourth goal of the tournament.
With the 2-1 win, the Netherlands moves on to the quarterfinals, where they will face the winner of today’s Brazil-Chile match.
Slovakia is eliminated, having made it to the Round of 16 in their first major tournament as an independent nations.
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