Dutch win the shadow boxing

Had qualification for the last eight of these championships still been an issue for either of these two sides then this probably would have been described as football's equivalent of the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object with the formidable Dutch attack coming up against the defence still reckoned to be the best around.

Instead there were only quarter-final opponents and venues to be decided at the Amsterdam Arena last night and, though it was an entertaining enough tussle for the most part, the lack of high stakes was obvious, with the determination of Frank Rijkaard and his men to stay on home territory the decisive factor over the 90 minutes.

French manager Roger Lemerre apparently cared so little about the outcome, in fact, that he was prepared to risk sacrificing the winning habit he had said was so important to him in order to give some very big names a night on the bench.

In all there were eight changes from the team that beat the Czech Republic, and just two players figured, Marcel Desailly and Patrick Vieira, who could really expect to start against Spain in Bruges at the weekend.

In the circumstances it must have been alarming for the Dutch coach that, despite fielding a side far closer to a full-strength line-out - he made just four switches - it was the French who managed to look more fluid and relaxed from the very start. Afterwards, though, Rijkaard declared himself thoroughly happy with the night's work.

While Lemerre had cause for some satisfaction with the way in which many of the players he called into his starting line-up performed, Rijkaard's squad tended to be shown as lacking in real depth by the changes he was forced into.

Aron Winter, the only surviving member of the panel that won this competition back in 1988 and last night making a record-equalling 83rd appearance for his country, performed solidly enough when he came on, but goalkeeper Sander Westerveld was undependable while Roy Makaay never made an impression after replacing Patrick Kluivert up front.

Makaay, the 25-year-old Deportivo La Coruna striker, could be forgiven for blaming his difficulties, in what was only his seventh cap, on the system. For all the bodies it throws at the opposition goal it still tends to leave the lone centre forward a little remote from the supporting players.

Early on Kluivert, with the help of Dennis Bergkamp, had presumably given us a hint of how their coach expects his tactical approach to work out, with the Arsenal player twice enabling his team-mate to beat a shaky French offside trap in the space of a couple of minutes.

His side already trailing to Christophe Dugarry's close-range header from Johan Micoud corner which Westerveld had called for but then failed to get anywhere near, Kluivert fluffed the first opportunity but finished the second brilliantly, slipping his shot between Bernard Lama and Frank Leboeuf and into the bottom right-hand corner.

Lemerre's side retook the lead on the half hour when Sylvain Wiltord's shot from the edge of the area was turned in by David Trezeguet and for the rest of the half they looked comfortable with their advantage.

The Dutch, however, still had by far the greater motivation to press forward for the win and they were rewarded for their greater enterprise during the second period with Frank de Boer cracking home a stunning 35-yard free and Westerveld then picking out Boudewijn Zenden, who got goal-side of his marker, Christian Kerembeu, before slipping the ball just inside the left-hand post.

And so it seemed set to continue, with both sides continuing to prove more effective at creating goals than preventing them. But, crucially, the scoreline now caused neither manager any great concern.

Lemerre was clearly happy enough to take his men back closer to home and Rijkaard was content just to be remaining on home soil. This despite the threat that the Yugoslavs, wildly erratic so far in this tournament he observed afterwards, might pose.

The upshot was that little bit of the life went out of the encounter, with neither side quite looking to rest up completely but each quite noticeably easing up just a little.

If anything, the fact that it was as good as it was for as long as it was, proved to be the surprising part of the night. After all, both of these teams might have some way to go before their Euro 2000 campaigns end and they may well, as both managers mentioned, have to meet again a week on Sunday in Rotterdam.

The stakes then would be just that little bit higher.