Robben in the mood

Soccer/Netherlands 1 Serbia & Montenegro 0: It was not the most masterful of beginnings, nonetheless this was a happy afternoon in Leipzig for the Netherlands.

From Saturday afternoon, some 20,000 Dutch fans caroused on the hushed streets of this dignified German city, still awakening from the drear decades of GDR government. The ancient gathering place around the taverns of the Schauspielvertel cannot have witnessed such rumbustious antics in many, many years.

They say the Dutch always liked a bit of S&M and in the Zentralstadion yesterday they had plenty of reason to take pleasure in those initials. A goal of clear,simple perfection from Arjen Robben after 18 minutes was enough to break down the Serbo-Montenegrins, who came into this tournament boasting a formidable defensive record.

However, this was hardly a performance to leave the other celebrated football nations shaking with fear and the Serbians caused enough trouble to keep Dutch coach Marco van Basten busy over the coming days.

The hero of the Netherlands' great 1988 European championship campaign remains such a cult hero that a good number of fans still wear his shirt from that vintage year. But the new generation, Robin van Persie and Robben in particular, did enough to partially live up to the sumptuous standards set by their predecessors.

Robben, a moody performer, was sensational here. From the opening exchanges he made the left flank of the pitch his own and there was a cruelty in the way he toyed with Nenad Djordevic with that quick-slow, mercurial ball control of his. The goal, though, came from a direct passage of play with the Netherlands guiding the ball from just outside their own box to the Serbo-Montenegrin net with three crisp touches.

Mark van Bommel took possession from what had been a halting Serbian attack and his pass into space was met with a perfectly weighted lob from van Persie, whose precision beat the attempt of the panicked Serbian full back line to play Robben offside. With the Chelsea man already in flight, it was a predestined sprint for the ball and although Ivica Dragutinovic half-grabbed the bright orange shirt, Robben smartly clipped his shot underneath Dragoslav Jevric.

That goal emboldened him and he would remain the Netherlands' chief attacking threat, an urgent and audacious presence despite the strong afternoon sunshine.

Three minutes after his goal, he let fly from outside the box, forcing an athletic reaction from Dragoslav and, after 38 minutes, he ghosted beautifully in front of the hypnotised Serbian defence, feinting twice before poor Djordevic and then letting fly.

Five minutes before half-time, he froze both Igor Duljaj and Djordevic with some fleet-footed magic and late in the game, collecting a booted clearance from Giovanni van Bronckhurst, he gave the orange faithful one more treat, tearing into Serbian country fearlessly as four white shirts closed in on him. He was stopped on the edge of the box at the expense of a booking for the sturdy Goran Gavrancic. The tormented Djordevic had long been called to the bench.

"I think I can play even better," the delighted Stamford Bridge man said afterwards. "But it was so hot and the important thing for us was to hold out for the win."

Robben's sorcery could not disguise the weaknesses, though. Serbia lacked the killer touch up front but they worked methodically on the Dutch back four, discovering a bountiful channel in John Heitinga's right-back territory and also forcing several hasty decisions from van Bronckhorst, including a thumped back pass to Edwin van der Sar which smelt of nerves.

As the game wore on, the Serbian midfield began to overshadow the Dutch, with Predrag Djordevic and replacement Ognjen Koroman particularly effective. Koroman made the most of his 47 minutes,
announcing his arrival with a fearsome drive just before half-time. The Portsmouth man best embodied the fiercely passionate body language of the small, devoted Serbian support and he gestured to them after winning a corner and soon afterwards earned a booking from Herr Merk for demanding the same for Heitinga.

However, captain Savo Milosevic was curiously inhibited and was replaced at half-time by Nikola Zigic, the 6ft 8in (2.03 metres) cult hero. Serbia's long fellow leapt for everything but his wingers failed to land the kind of ball he required and two optimistic strikes from Koroman were about as close as they came.

The Dutch appeared to lose interest with about a quarter of the game remaining. It was not a match Ruud van Nistelrooy will remember for long.

The Manchester United man made all the runs but - possibly because his midfield colleagues seemed obsessed with finding Robben - he got little ball and was replaced by Feyenoord's Dirk Kuyt with 20 minutes remaining.

By then, the 27 degree heat had sapped the energy from the field and a van Persie free on 80 minutes was Netherlands' last meaningful attack.

"At times it was like playing in the Sahara," said Robben. "It was suffocating. So we had to choose our moments and sometimes let the ball do the work."

And it was true: there were moments when the Dutch looked gorgeous on the ball. The problem is, as Dutch teams have discovered down the years, you cannot own the ball all the time.