Netherlands tops Serbia-Montenegro 1-0
Pakistan Times Sports Desk

LEIPZIG (Germany): The orange fans ruled the stands, their players the field. The Netherlands relied on the lightning speed of winger Arjen Robben for a 1-0 win over Serbia-Montenegro on Sunday to join favorite Argentina at the top of Group C, considered the toughest of the first round.

Instead of using the counterattack as it promised, Serbia-Montenegro was caught by it. In a clockwork move in the 18th minute, Mark van Bommel fed a long pass to Robin van Persie near midfield. The winger delicately lobbed it over the defense toward Robben.

No one could match his quickness, and despite some desperate tugging at his shirt, Robben coolly slipped the ball under goalkeeper Dragoslav Jevric in the 18th minute.

It was all the Dutch fans needed to start a party, and half the crowd at the 43,000-capacity Zentral Stadion was filled with orange, the color of the Dutch team's shirts. The celebrations lasted the rest of the game — and certainly would go deep into the evening.

The Netherlands won a 1-0 World Cup game for the first time.

"This is a very important victory," said Dutch midfielder Phillip Cocu. "Especially since the Argentines won, too."

The South Americans are the other favorites in the group and beat Ivory Coast 2-1 on Saturday.

It was a bitter blow for Serbia, which dominated the opening moments, but badly let down, for once, on its vaunted defense. Its defenders were caught completely flatfooted on Robben's decisive goal.

"We make one mistake and we are punished for it," said Serbia-Montenegro coach Ilija Petkovic.

The Netherlands, one of the few nations playing a 4-3-3 alignment at the World Cup, kept its attack open through its excellent wingers and quickly regrouped once the Serbs had the ball.

At times, wingers Van Persie and Robben just switched sides to dumbfound the opposition.

Serbia-Montenegro picked a very defensive lineup and had to switch tactics early on. In the end, it failed to match the individual class of the Dutch forward line.

The Dutch defense, often considered the weak link in the lineup, held together until the end under the leadership of Andre Ooijer and Joris Mathijsen.

Even though Serbia-Montenegro kept threatening, it failed to get a goal, and it next faces Argentina, while the Netherlands plays Ivory Coast on Friday.

Petkovic was without defender Nemanja Vidic because of suspension. Savo Milosevic made his 99th international appearance Sunday, but was replaced at halftime after a disappointing performance.●