Netherlands self-critical despite win (Feature)

By Veronica Sardon Jun 28, 2010, 19:43 GMT

Durban - The Netherlands delivered a convincing 2-1 win against Slovakia in Durban on Monday to go through of the World Cup quarter-finals. But the team believes it can do much better.

'We didn't play our best match,' said star winger Arjen Robben. 'Hopefully we'll have our best game when it's needed.'

Robben, who scored the first Dutch goal and was the Man of the Match in his first game of the tournament in the starting eleven, was not alone in his belief that there is room for improvement.

Coach Bert van Marwijk admitted in a press conference after the match that there was a period when the Slovaks could have drawn the game.

'We had chances to score the second goal, but we missed and we let Slovakia stay in the game. They had two very clear chances,' Netherlands captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst agreed.

Luckily, Dutch keeper Maarten Steckelenburg was on hand to save his team.

All in all, the Oranje went away with the feeling that they had done their job.

'We're through to the quarter-finals, and we're very happy,' Van Bronckhorst said. 'We have a dream, which is to be the champions, and we're three games away.'

Joris Mathijsen said the players felt that they controlled the match but made too many mistakes at the beginning of the second half.

Despite not shining, the Netherlands have won all four games in South Africa so far.

Van Marwijk stressed that his men deserved to beat Slovakia, noting that it's not easy to win matches in a tough tournament like the World Cup.

'It's winning matches that counts,' he said.

Robben and Mathijsen said they were tired of being identified as a team that plays beautifully but never wins trophies.

The Oranje crashed out of their last two major tournaments, the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008, after their first knock-out matches after showing off their skills in the group stages.

'We have learned,' Mathijsen said.