Dutch side show glimpses of greatness

By Mike Collett - Analysis

BERNE (Reuters) - Television cameras caught Johan Cruyff beaming with delight as the Netherlands routed World Cup runners-up France 4-1 on Friday just four days after they demolished world champions Italy 3-0.

It was a poignant moment as the greatest Dutch player of all time applauded his countrymen off the field after their second outstanding display at the Stade de Suisse in less than a week put them in the Euro 2008 quarter-finals with a match to spare.

The Dutch started well and just got better and better as the game continued with almost every player on top form.

The key to the victory was the speed and variation of their counter-attacks. The Dutch are capable of hitting exquisite cross-field balls which they used to split the French defence.

They also have the blistering pace of fit-again Arjen Robben the work-rate of Ruud van Nistelrooy, the midfield craft of Nigel de Jong and Wesley Sneijder, outstanding fullback Giovanni van Bronckhorst and the safe hands of Edwin van der Sar.

Those attributes meant their domination of the French, apart for a spell before and after halftime, was almost total.

All four goals were well-taken but Robben's angled third was the killer-blow, making it 3-1 less than a minute after Thierry Henry had pulled one back for France.

The fourth from Wesley Sneijder was brilliantly taken and sent France to their heaviest defeat in a finals since Brazil beat them 5-2 in the World Cup semis in Sweden 50 years ago.