Netherlands cruise past Croatia

Croatia 0-3 Netherlands

Home discomfort
First-half strikes from Johnny Heitinga and Klaas Jan Huntelaar and a Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink goal a minute from time maintained Croatia's record of never having won at the Poljud Stadium, while underlining the visitors' capabilities.

Early goal
Marco van Basten's team were ahead after only nine minutes when Heitinga evaded the attentions of Dario Šimić to head in Wesley Sneijder's deep free-kick. However, the hosts should have been level nine minutes later when Darijo Srna sent his header over the crossbar following Mladen Petrić's run and cross from the left.

Huntelaar joy
At the other end, Sneijder fired a low shot wide, though the Oranje did not have to wait long for their second as Huntelaar doubled the lead after 37 minutes. Tim de Cler advanced down the left, springing the Croatia offside trap, and drove a low ball across the penalty area which was dispatched by the AFC Ajax striker.

Croatian changes
Coach Slaven Bilić brought on Ivica Olić and Danijel Pranjić in the second half yet it was the Netherlands who continued to threaten, with Sneijder at the heart of their best efforts. First he directed a free-kick wide on 55 minutes before shooting narrowly off target when well-placed.

Scoring sub
Croatia rallied in an attempt to claw their way back into the contest, with Petrić seeing his strike blocked while Srna's free-kick was saved by Edwin van der Sar. But just minutes after coming on as an 84th-minute substitute, an unmarked Vennegoor of Hesselink sealed victory for the Netherlands after being played in by Ibrahim Afellay.