Van Marwijk proud as Dutch reach finals

Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk hailed his side's 100 per cent record as they became the first European nation to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa following a 2-1 over Iceland.

Perfect record
The Oranje have an unassailable eleven-point lead in the five-team Group 9 after winning all six games so far. They were two goals to the good after just 16 minutes in Reykjavik thanks to strikes from Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel but relaxed thereafter and the hosts got one back through defender Kristján Örn Sigurdsson, who headed in a corner in the 88th minute.

'Big compliment'
Van Marwijk was proud his side had achieved qualification so early in the campaign. "When you win six games in a row that deserves a big compliment," he said, although the coach was less impressed with his team's overall performance on Saturday. "I was satisfied with the first half but we only scored twice when we should have scored five or six goals and that I can criticise. In the second half it was like some players thought the game was already done so we did not get a third goal which would have really killed the game off."