Steely defenders shut out Dutch

Guus Hiddink was still striking a defiant note after watching his Dutch team surrender two precious points with characteristic brittleness at the start of their World Cup programme.

"It's a pause but no more than that" he said. "It wasn't the result we wished but I still believe we'll qualify for the next round."

Not everybody was sharing his optimism, however, as the throng of Dutch supporters made their way out of the Stade De France and into the rain which fell like stair rods for most of the game.

From relatively modest resources, Belgium summoned the steel which neutralised differences between the teams and caused George Leekens, their phlegmatic manager, to break into something approaching a smile.

"It was a good result for us but it was only as much as we deserved," he sai. "We knew it would be difficult but after the first half-hour, we got a bit more control of the game.

"It means that our next game, against Mexico, is now even more important. I think it will be difficult but this time I think we will be looking to get more players forward from midfield."

Belgians apart, few were enamoured of the strategy Leekens invoked. As in their two games against the Republic of Ireland in the play-off for the finals, they never allowed sophistication to get in the way of the first priority of clearing their lines.

And when he sent on Eric Deflandre to replace Bertrand Crasson after only 23 minutes, we knew for certain that he wasn't in the mood for entertaining.

We suffered with Crasson as Marc Overmars glided past him with ease in Holland's early supremacy. It was a frailty which threatened doom on the Belgians but within two minutes of his arrival on the pitch, Deflandre had left Overmars in an untidy bundle on the wrong end of the touchline.

Surprisingly, Pierluigi Collina, the Italian referee, desisted from reaching into his back pocket but when Deflandre launched another crunching tackle shortly after wards, the yellow card promptly came out.

In the cold professionalism of the modern game, however, the ploy was soon seen to justify the price. From that point, Overmars put more space between himself and the replacement full back and it wasn't until the last 20 minutes, when he switched to the opposite flank, that he re-emerged as Holland's most dangerous attacker.

Compared to Deflandre's actions, the offence which led to the dismissal of Patrick Kluivert seven minutes from the end was positively harmless.

After becomming entangled with Lorenzo Staelens on the ground, Kluivert strode after the Belgian with dark intent. The sum total of his violence when he reached him, however, was a nudge in the shoulder and for a man who had earlier handed out stick with practised ease, Staelens crumpled with damming ease.

It means an automatic two-match ban for Kluivert and another chance for the Leeds player Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink to partner Dennis Bergkamp, who was an anonymous figure for much of the 25 minutes he spent on the pitch.

Hasselbaink spurned a fine chance after just six minutes, prompting Belgium to get so many players behind the ball that the Dutch found it increasingly difficult to progress through the middle.

Eventually, Hiddink introduced a second winger, Boudewin Zenden, in the hope of giving additional width to his attack but the end product was much the same, as Staelens and the equally forthright Mike Verstraeten continued to dominate in defence.

In the end, though, it was Deflandre who rescued the Belgians. Apart from shutting Overmars out of the game, he made two goal-line clearances.

It's going to require a lot more than this for Holland to deliver on pedigree.