Dutch see off United States

The Netherlands beat the United States 2-0 at the CMGI Field in Foxboro, Massachusetts on Sunday.

Superb saves
Roy Makaay and Andy van der Meyde scored their first senior international goals and goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus made a string of superb saves as the Dutch ended their hosts' ten-match unbeaten run.

Dutch missing finals
The match, played in front of a crowd of over 36,700, served as a final FIFA World Cup tune-up for the Americans who leave for the Korean Republic on Wednesday and will play their first Group D match against Portugal on 5 June. Led by Juventus FC midfield player Edgar Davids, the Dutch - who are missing their first finals since 1986 - opened the proceedings in determined form, but it was the hosts who had the better chances.

O'Brien effort
In the 12th minute, John O'Brien was able to evade Davids in the middle of the Dutch area, only to see his well-hit shot go over the bar from 12 metres. Ten minutes later, Brian McBride headed an O'Brien corner straight at Waterreus and in the 23rd minute, Claudio Reyna forced Waterreus to parry the ball out of danger. Wattereus was up to task again on 30 minutes when defender Eddie Pope hit a powerful shot from 20 metres.

Makaay opener
However, it was the Dutch who took the lead just before half-time as Davids found Makaay on the right side of the US penalty area where he broke in, slipping the ball under Brad Friedel from seven metres. Van der Meyde, making his senior debut, nearly made it 2-0 for the Dutch three minutes after the interval as he beat defender David Regis along the right side before forcing substitute Kasey Keller to make a superb reflex save.

Advocaat comments
Fourteen minutes from time, Van der Meyde made it two when he stole the ball from Regis and slotted into the empty American net. Netherlands coach Dick Advocaat said: "I think we gave them far too many chances at the back and if we were playing against a stronger team, we would have been dead. There was no reason why Waterreus should have been subjected to that much pressure. He was by far our best player on the field today."

Arena discouraged
"I'm a little discouraged with our finishing," US coach Bruce Arena said. "We need to be better [at] finishing, but their goalkeeper did have a very strong game. I think it was a tough goal to give up at 45 minutes. It's just too bad they [the Dutch] will not be in the World Cup."