Argentines and Dutch qualify in scintillating fashion

Argentina produced easily the best performance of the World Cup thus far with an amazing 6-0 rout of a dejected Serbia and Montenegro, while the Netherlands managed to battle past an impressive Cote D'Ivoire 2-1 to settle the qualification places for Group C.

The Argentines scored with the first real attack of the match in a move that would set the tone for the entire evening.

Riquelme was the fulcrum of the move and after a brilliant Sorin flick to Saviola the Serbian defence could only drop off, allowing the diminutive striker to chip the ball into the path of Maxi Rodriguez who confidently finished past Jevric to make the S&M task all the more difficult.

Luiz Gonzalez had been drafted into the starting XI but unfortunately had to leave the field injured and that meant Esteban Cambiasso would regain his place in the side, and would soon make an indelible impression on proceedings.

If their first strike was clinical, their second was simply awe inspiring. Truly one of the greatest goals this wonderful tournament has ever seen, it encompassed everything the beautiful game stands for.

An intricate flowing passing move involving virtually all the Argentines gained momentum as Saviola played a clever one-two with Riquelme before moving the ball on to Cambiasso, the substitute instantly feeding Crespo whose brilliant back heel found the midfielder again who calmly finished in front of a beaming Diego Maradona in the stands.

Serbia's World Cup was going from bad to worse and four minutes before the interval they conceded again.

This time it was all about the determination of Saviola who refused to give up on a seemingly lost cause and dispossessed his marker, jinked past Dudic and fired a low shot which via the goalkeepers palm fell invitingly to Maxi Rodriguez who tapped in his second of the match.

Things again escalated in the negative direction for Serbia and Montenegro in the 65th minute as the immensely frustrated Mateja Kezman, who had been deprived of any real service all night, was sent off for a wild lunge at Javier Mascherano.

As if their football hadn't been breathtaking enough already, Argentina then had the luxury of bringing on brilliant youngsters Carlos Tevez and Lionel Messi for their first taste of World Cup competition.

And after a quick Riquelme free-kick found Messi, the Barcelona wonder-kid put in an appealing low cross for Crespo to convert and keep the Chelsea hit man on track for the prestigious Golden Shoe award for top scorer in the tournament.

The similarly sublimely talented Tevez then produced yet another terrific goal of his own, dancing past two defenders expertly before calmly sliding the ball past a hapless Jevric.

Unbelievably there was still more to come for the South Americans as after Tevez and Crespo combined to play in Messi, the latest man to be dubbed "the new Maradona" finished with his less favoured right foot to put the icing on the cake of a simply stunning team performance which should rightly see them looked upon as one of the real World Cup favourites.

In the other Group C match the Netherlands managed to overcome the Ivory Coast to seal qualification, but the Africans have impressed spectators around the world with their enterprising football and can certainly feel hard done by to be eliminated before the final match of the group phase.

It took until the 22nd minute for any moment of tangible danger but when it came it was certainly spectacular.

Robin Van Persie won a free-kick in a menacing position after a blistering run and took it himself, striking venomously past a helpless Tizie for yet another goal of the tournament contender.

Before long the lead was doubled.

Arjen Robben was intent on repeating his wizardry of the first match and after a trademark run he exchanged passes with Van Persie before sliding in Van Nistelrooy, the Manchester United marksman narrowly remaining onside to consummately finish the move and leave Cote D'Ivoire perilously close to elimination.

But the World Cup debutants were far from finished and in the 38th minute Bakari Kone produced a goal to make the terrific Dutch two look decidedly average.

Picking the ball up 40 yards out Kone immediately turned two Dutchmen before utilising his searing pace to evade several challenges and firing an unstoppable drive into the back of a stunned Van Der Sar's net.

Despite a splendidly open second half in which the Ivorians spent far more time attacking then defending they simply couldn't find an equaliser, and Holland joined Argentina in sealing qualification from Group C with six points from six.

Cote D'Ivoire in truth deserved at least a point from the game and while their final match against Serbia and Montenegro won't have any impact upon the rest of the competition it will at least give the affectionately known 'elephants' a chance to claim their very first World Cup victory.

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