Robben magic dazzles Serbia and Montenegro

A brilliant individual performance from Arjen Robben has led Holland to a vital 1-0 opening game victory against Serbia and Montenegro.

The talented winger scored the only goal of the game after 18 minutes and constantly terrorised the famed defence of an opposition who only conceded one goal in qualifying.

Marco Van Basten was able to field his strongest team with Phillip Coco and Wesley Sneijder passed fit after injury worries, while the major absentee for Serbia and Montenegro was key defender Nemanja Vidic who was suspended.

Both sides were unbeaten in qualifying and the pre-match talk suggested this would be a game of few chances with neither side currently renowned for a particularly enterprising brand of football.

Serbia began the match confidently with Predrag Djordjevic causing problems with a cut back, but the Dutch defence scrambled the ball to safety as the Oranje looked to make up for their failure to qualify in 2002.

Savo Milosevic was looking to lead by example as captain and bustled his way through a few challenges, but his low shot was saved comfortably by Van Der Sar and Holland began to find their rhythm.

The Dutch counter attacking style soon found success as a long ball was cleverly flicked on by Van Persie to the onrushing Robben, his pace taking him beyond the last man and his composure in front of goal allowing a calm finish underneath Jevric to give the Netherlands a priceless lead.

Predictably after getting a goal Holland eased off in an attacking sense, looking to maintain defensive stability while periodically using the pace of Robben and Van Persie to stretch the S & M back four.

Robben soon saw a terrific drive from 25 yards matched by the save from Jevric as his side looked to confirm their superiority.

After two shots with his left boot the Chelsea man then tried with his right after cutting inside two defenders, although this time the ball rolled agonisingly wide.

Ruud Van Nistelrooy's club future is currently under a cloud but his tireless link up play was proving integral for Holland as Serbia struggled to keep the deficit at one.

In the 43rd minute Koroman came on for Nenad Djordjevic in a tactical re-shuffle and finished the half with a rare Serbian opportunity, hitting his fierce drive just wide of the rarely troubled Dutch goal.

This will be Serbia and Montenegro's last World Cup as a union after Montenegro's recent vote to secede, and at half time coach Ilija Petkovic knew they would require far more inspiration to avoid an early exit. His response was to introduce the giant frame of Nikola Zigic in place of Milosevic, but without sufficient service from midfield the striker struggled to make an impact.

With S & M chances sporadic at best Dejan Stankovic would've been disappointed to wastefully fire over a free-kick from a promising position and the equaliser remained elusive.

Koroman had looked lively since coming on and after some inventive play Van Der Sar failed to hold his low shot, but no one was following in and the Netherlands escaped.

Robben was perpetually the most dangerous player on the park and after another mazy run he fired a low shot wide to keep the score at a nervy 1-0.

Robin Van Persie then whistled a free-kick excruciatingly close to the upright when another touch would've surely resulted in a second goal.

Serbia and Montenegro were finding it extremely difficult to commit forward, seemingly fearful of the counter-attacking Dutch.

When they did attack the speed of Robben and Van Persie did expose them, however the S & M fans must have been frustrated at the lack of ambition from their side.

Holland continued to confidently keep possession as the time ticked away, and the eventual 1-0 victory gives them a great chance of progressing from the aptly titled 'group of death' also including Argentina and Cote D'Ivoire.

Van Basten's often pragmatic approach is perhaps at odds with the 'total football' often associated with Dutch football after the wonderful Johan Cruyff led 1974 side, however this is a results business and as such this Netherlands team might just be a real contender for ultimate glory in Germany.

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