Late Dutch escape in Tallinn serves as warning to Ireland

There were 11 minutes to go and Estonia's 2-1 lead was three minutes old. They were on the attack again. Andres Oper, a 23year-old flying forward who plays his football in Denmark with Aalborg and who had already scored the euphoric opener just over 20 minutes earlier, was sprinting free once again. Michael Reizeger charged across to cover. Oper left Reizeger on his backside. But, with only Edwin van der Saar to beat again, Oper hit the side netting.

A couple of minutes later and Oper was clear once more. This time he fooled Frank de Boer but failed to muster a shot. Four minutes after that Ruud van Nistelrooy got a toe to Pierre van Hooijdonk's knockdown and it was 2-2. It should have been 3-1.

That is how close Estonia came to registering the biggest victory in their 10-year history. Split seconds. Splintered dream.

In their 100th international since independence, in their first game in their new stadium, a draw was the least Estonia deserved, yet even that was to be denied them. With the Netherlands desperate for a winner that would keep them in touch in Group Two Patrick Kluivert rose to head in an 89th-minute third. In injury-time Van Nistelrooy eased all remaining Dutch fear with a farcical fourth. Estonia were floored.

"Lucky," said Louis van Gaal afterwards, and he was not talking about his hosts. Nor was this a patronising pat on Baltic heads, this was heartfelt from Van Gaal. It was the truth.

Was this a one-off or are Holland experiencing a more serious decline, he was asked. "We can never know," was his answer. It seems reasonable to assume his private thoughts are different.

Van Gaal's counterpart, Arno Pijpers, is another Dutchman. Now manager of Estonia, Pijpers was asked much the same "one-off" question. His answer was more certain. Estonian football is making steady progress.

That doubled as a fair summary of the match that had just gone before. When Estonia's first pass of the evening was misplaced and led to a Dutch corner within 30 seconds, there was a lot of home anxiety visible on the pitch and in the stands. But when it came in from Boudewijn Zenden and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink dragged a shot wide, an orange theme was set.

Frank de Boer pulled another shortly after and though the barrel-chested goalkeeper Martin Kaalma made a fine point-blank block from Phillip Cocu in the seventh minute, it was the only significant save from the stand-in for Derby County's Mart Poom in the first half.

Not that that was a sign of Estonian strength. The excellent young Flora Tallinn centre-half Raio Piiroja had established himself as the game's best player by the half-hour, but even he was indebted to some sloppy finishing from Hasselbaink and Roy Maakay. With Marc Overmars and Kluivert, they had formed a four-man attack. But both Hasselbaink and Makaay were to be replaced.

Hasselbaink's withdrawal came just past the hour. On came Van Nistelrooy. His second touch was a pass into touch. The obvious Dutch frustration soon became despair. In the 65th minute an Estonian substitute, Indrek Zelinski, another of Flora Tallinn, supplied a superb flick that cut the Dutch back three apart. Onto it raced Oper. While holding off the challenge of Chelsea's Mario Melchiot, Oper simultaneously held his nerve. He beat Van der Saar, of Juventus, with an emphatic shot from 16 yards. Some goal, some drama. It would be the first of six goals in 25 minutes.

Kaalma immediately made a brilliant save from Kluivert but when De Boer advanced in the 68th to have a lash from 30 yards, the ball clipped the head of Piiroja, struck the crossbar and bounced down inches over the line. 1-1.

Van Hooijdonk then came on and Kaalma made another great stop from Kluivert as Holland continued to press. Then a tackle and a pass from Marko Kristal, playing his 100th game on his 28th birthday. Opers was now scampering down the Estonian right. He reached the byeline, looked up and saw Zelinski moving to the near post. Zelinski ran across Reizeger and sent a first-time volley on the run high past Van der Saar. 2-1.

The half-finished Lillekula Stadium could hardly contain itself, literally.

But then came those Oper openings. After that came Dutch closure.

First Van Nistelrooy got his toe in. 2-2; Kluivert then managed a slick head to an Overmars corner after Piirja had made a goal-line clearance. 2-3; with seconds left Piirja rushed forward, the gap he left was unfilled but the Estonians passed the ball there anyway. Van Nistelrooy collected it, rounded Kaalma, and made it 4-2 to the relieved visitors.

The stadium emptied, thrilled but thinking of what might have been. Especially the Dutch fans.

Estonia: Kaalma, Saviauk, Piiroja (all Flora Tallinn), Rooba (Midtylland), Stepanov, Haavistu, Reim, Kristal, Novikov (all Flora Tallinn), Oper (Aalborg), Vilkmae (Valerenga). Sub: Zelinski (Flora Tallinn, 69).

Netherlands: Van der Saar (Juventus), Reizeger (Barcelona), Melchiot (Chelsea), F de Boer (Barcelona), Zenden (Barcelona), Paauwe (Feyenoord), Cocu (Barcelona), Maakay (Deportivo La Coruna), Kluivert (Barcelona), Hasselbaink (Chelsea), Overmars (Barcelona). Subs: Van Nistelrooy (Manchester United 61), Yandraat (Willem II 61), Van Hooijdonk (Benfica 68).