Netherlands ease into quarter-finals

Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder scored in either half as the Netherlands defeated Slovakia 2-1 in Durban to book a FIFA World Cup quarter-final berth.

A hamstring strain restricted Robben to only 17 minutes of action as the Netherlands won all three matches in Group E, yet the FC Bayern München winger needed just 18 minutes of his first start in South Africa to open the scoring with a super strike. Sneijder's simple finish with six minutes remaining made the game safe, although there was time for Róbert Vittek to convert a penalty for Slovakia with the final kick of the match.

The return of Robben enabled coach Bert van Marwijk to start with a team wearing numbers 1-11. If that was a novelty, Robben's tremendous finish was not. Having raced from inside his own half onto Sneijder's long ball over the Slovakia defence, Robben cut inside two defenders and finished with a fierce low shot from outside the area.

A save at full stretch from Slokavia No1 Ján Mucha prevented Robben from doubling the advantage seven minutes after the restart, while Netherlands keeper Maarten Stekelenburg denied Miroslav Stoch and Vittek with fine one-handed stops soon after.

Yet as Slovakia pushed up in search of an equaliser, Sneijder hit back with his second goal of the finals. Dirk Kuyt pipped Mucha to Giovanni van Bronckhorst's long pass before rolling the ball across goal for Sneijder who, with the keeper out of position, turned it into the empty net.

Vittek's fourth World Cup goal, a spot kick after Stekelenburg had felled substitute Martin Jakubko, came too late for Slovakia. Instead, it was the Oranje left looking forward to a last-eight meeting with Brazil in Port Elizabeth on Friday afternoon.