Holland cash in as official confusion hands it to Ruud

Group C
Holland 3

* van Nistelrooy 26,
* Sneijder 31,
* van Bronckhorst 79

Italy 0

* Kevin McCarra at the Stade de Suisse
* The Guardian,
* Tuesday June 10, 2008

Giovanni van Bronckhorst

Giovanni van Bronckhorst celebrates scoring Holland's third goal. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Here was the true opening ceremony for Euro 2008. It was the night when pandemonium was unleashed in the tournament, releasing excitement and surprise as Italy were beaten by Holland for the first time since the World Cup of 30 years ago. The result is emphatic but its origins are the cause today of wrangles over the laws of the game following an opening goal that looked absurdly invalid.

The Italy right-back Christian Panucci hurt himself while trying to deal with an attack and tumbled behind the by-line. As play continued, Wesley Sneijder's mishit effort ran low across the area and was turned home by Ruud van Nistelrooy from, as it seemed, a glaringly off-side position. A replay on the giant screens provoked rage in the Italian areas of the stands and Luca Toni was booked for dissent but the referee, Peter Frojdfeldt, and his assistants are adamant that they are correct.

In regard to law 11, officials are advised that a player who leaves the pitch without permission and does not return immediately must be taken into account when determining offside. Presumably, this can apply only to a specific passage of play since a footballer with, for example, a broken leg could be stranded for a very long while. Holland, in any case, derived a substantial benefit from a mere accident.

The Italy coach, Roberto Donadoni, to his credit, declined to embark on a real tirade about the referee, although he believes the error was self-evident. He appeared mindful of the fact that falling behind did not excuse the fragility of the defending thereafter. "As a team," Donadoni said, "we understand how the fans are feeling. We feel as sorry as them."

This defeat cannot be dwelt upon by Italy because there are trying matches to come with Romania and France. Should the side be moping, elimination at the group stage will be inevitable. Everything did go awry for Italy and when the situation was recoverable, at 2-0, there were a number of opportunities, one of which was ludicrously squandered by Toni.

By then it felt virtually inevitable that Holland would break and score a third. Giovanni van Bronckhorst connected with a Dirk Kuyt cross after 80 minutes and either scored himself or, depending on interpretation, watched Gianluca Zambrotta put the ball into his own net as he sought to clear.

Italy were brittle throughout and sorely lacked Fabio Cannavaro in central defence. He withdrew from the squad through injury and it is obvious now that the right deputy has not been found. Marco Materazzi was taken off much too late.

The distress in Italian ranks was also indicative of the sharpness that Holland showed, above all on the counter-attack. Their second goal, in the 31st minute was glorious. Having cleared from close to his own goal-line, Van Bronckhorst burst down the left to take a pass from Rafael van der Vaart and swing in a deep cross. Kuyt headed it meticulously into the area and Sneijder connected with a fine volley to crash the ball past Gianluigi Buffon at the near post. While the character of the game had been influenced by the officials, it was still a vivacious one.

Forced to chase the game, Italy's line-up, packed with senior players and featuring a mere two men whose 30th birthday is still ahead of them, were disconcerted. When the defence parted once more on the verge of half-time Van Nistelrooy collected and drove low but Buffon, blocking with his legs, put the shot behind

Van Basten could not have anticipated that his men would be causing such alarm. As if persistent weaknesses in some areas were not disadvantage enough, a series of injuries had left the manager scrambling to identify a line-up that could deal with Italy. On this strangest of evenings he had a team that reduced the opposition to confusion and despair.

Holland relished a triumph that still seems marvellously improbable in view of the fact that some of their best-known players were missing. No one had guessed, for example, that a side containing the 6ft 5in defensive midfielder Orlando Engelaar, picking up merely his seventh cap, could enjoy such an advantage. He slipped passes around far more neatly than had been anticipated but that was a minor surprise on an occasion packed with astonishment.

Taken from the Guardian/Observer