Orange squash for Burley's boys

Alex Montgomery

Scotland were saved from the utter humiliation they suffered on their last visit to Amsterdam.

But if last night's scoreline was an improvement on that six-goal drubbing six years ago, they were still revealed as a squad out of their class when up against a Holland side easing gracefully towards South Africa and the 2010 World Cup finals.

Scotland manager George Burley can justifiably claim reasons beyond his control as an excuse for a defeat which was inevitable. The reality is that Scotland now have to beat Iceland at Hampden on Wednesday to give themselves even a chance of qualifying for the finals from a second-place play-off.

It was left to Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt to finish off the Scots with a penalty in the 77th minute after Klaas Jan Huntelaar had been dumped on his backside by a lunging tackle from Christophe Berra.

The Tartan Army did not even have a consolation goal to take home as match official Laurent Duhamel disallowed a Gary Caldwell header, deciding that Gary Teale had impeded goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg.
Arjen Robben

Scotland's Gary Naysmith (left) attempts to block a shot from Arjen Robben

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* England 4 Slovakia 0
* Wales 0 Finland 2
* N Ireland 3 Poland 2
* Rep of Ireland 1 Bulgaria 1

The start was always going to be crucial for Scotland. There is no more intimidating stadium with its electric, passionate atmosphere than a packed ArenA.

But it is the Dutch team and their lyrical, thrilling style that is the real intimidator. It is scary - and even more so for novices Berra and Ross McCormack, who play their football in the Championship and started with exactly 42 minutes of international experience between them.
Unhappy Scotland players

I don't believe it: It's agony for Scotland as they concede a second goal

Burley's squad are seriously depleted through injury but Scotland still went into battle against the Dutch with the full vocal power of the Tartan Army.

There were encouraging signs when the visitors took the game to the Dutch early on and Kenny Miller missed a chance to give them the lead in the 11th minute. There was a moment of hesitancy among the defenders, who felt Miller was offside. Instead, he drove on but took far too long to control the ball from a Darren Fletcher pass and the opportunity was lost.

Holland had surprised even the home supporters when they left out Wesley Sneijder of Real Madrid, but replacement Kuyt was hardly a weakness.

There was danger in every area of the team and Arjen Robben strolled through in the 16th minute only to blast his effort away from Allan McGregor and over.

Nigel de Jong was booked for a nasty tackle on Scotland skipper Barry Ferguson in the 18th minute - the first indication that the Dutch are well capable of mixing it. Mark van Bommel twice offered further evidence of Holland's dark side before the interval, the most damaging incident being when he carried through with a tackle on Fletcher.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar

Klaas act: Holland's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (centre) scores the opener

Scotland's commitment was acceptable but there were worrying signs, particularly from Caldwell in the centre of defence and Graham Alexander's failure to cover the threat of Robben, who was free to roam unmarked on the left. The dam broke on the half-hour when Huntelaar headed goal No 1. It was a bad one for any defence to concede at this level - a free header which came to the Real Madrid striker from a Van Bommel cross.

Scotland were to have another bad moment right on half-time when Holland scored their second. This time the scorer was Robin van Persie and again it came from woeful marking. The Arsenal forward rose between Fletcher and Alexander to connect with a Robben corner. The Dutch were now in complete control