June 9th 2:30pm US/Eastern Time (8:30pm Central European Time)
Stade de Suisse Wankdorf, Berne- Group C
Result: Netherlands 3 - Italy 0
The Netherlands ended a 30-year wait for a victory over Italy in emphatic fashion as they began their Group C campaign with a rousing 3-0 win against the world champions in Berne.
Ruud van Nistelrooy side-footed the Oranje ahead in the 26th minute, a lead doubled superbly by his Real Madrid CF colleague Wesley Sneijder soon after. Edwin van der Sar, becoming only the third player to appear in four UEFA European Championships.
With coaches Marco van Basten and Roberto Donadoni schooled under Arrigo Sacchi at AC Milan an attacking treat was always in store. And so it proved, Antonio Di Natale narrowly failing to free Luca Toni in only the second minute. The FC Bayern München striker did get a glimpse of goal in the 12th minute, rising to flick a header wide from an equally promising position, yet from then on the Dutch dominated the halfThe Netherlands can now look forward with confidence to Friday's meeting with France, while Italy must recover from a worst-ever EURO defeat when they face Romania.
