Netherlands Stuns Italy 3-0; France, Romania Draw at Euro 2008

The Netherlands inflicted Italy's worst defeat at soccer's European Championship, crushing the world champion 3-0, while France was held 0-0 by Romania.

Ruud van Nisterlrooyvan made it 1-0 in Berne, Switzerland, before Westley Sneijder and Giovanni van Bronckhorst scored on counterattacks to give the Dutch their first victory over Italy in 30 years yesterday.

“It was a historic result because in the past we have never beaten Italy 3-0,” Netherlands coach Marco van Basten said on UEFA’s Web site. “If we play with this quality we can have nice dreams.”

The Netherlands moved atop a group featuring three of the world’s top 10-ranked teams as it seeks a second major title after winning the European Championship in 1998. France and Romania share second place, with the top two advancing to the quarterfinals.

Italy’s first opening-match defeat at the four-yearly championships surpassed its 2-0 loss to the Soviet Union in the 1988 semifinals. The Italians will try to rebound against Romania on June 13, when the Dutch play France.

“This is already history and we need to think about the next game,” Italy coach Roberto Donadoni said in comments on uefa.com. “We need to recover physically and mentally so we can put things right straight away.”

Ruud Awakening

At the Stade de Suisse last night, Van Nistelrooy had his first chance in the 18th minute after collecting a pass from Dirk Kuyt. He stumbled over a challenge by goalkeeper Gianluig Buffon and stayed on his feet instead of looking for a penalty. The Real Madrid striker was forced wide and Italy cleared.

Sneijder, on his 24th birthday, volleyed over soon after and Marco Materazzi had to head behind for a corner under pressure from Van Nistelrooy.

The Netherlands took the lead in the 26th minute when Van Nistelrooy deflected a shot from Sneijder past Buffon. Italy’s players appealed that Van Nistelrooy was offside, with Luca Toni receiving a yellow card for protesting.

The second goal came five minutes later, after Van Bronckhorst cleared the ball on his goal line from a corner. The fullback set up a counterattack with a long pass to Kuyt, who laid the ball off to Sneijder to volley in.

Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar held a shot from Antonio di Natale, which went through the legs of Khalid Boulahrouz, while Di Natale fired over at the end of the half.

Van Nistelrooy missed an opportunity to score a third goal before halftime when Buffon saved with his legs.

Italy Chances

Italy, which beat France in the 2006 World Cup final, had chances in the second half. Toni tested Van der Sar with a 60th- minute shot and Andrea Pirlo fired a freekick into the side netting.

Van der Sar also saved a low shot from substitute Alessandro Del Piero, while Toni fired over after collecting a pass from Antonio Cassano.

Another breakaway in the 80th minute resulted in the final goal. Van Bronckhorst passed to Kuyt, whose shot was saved by Buffon. Kuyt passed for Van Bronckhorst to head into the net.

In Zurich, France and Romania mustered only one shot on goal between them in the first scoreless match at this year’s tournament. Romania goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont easily stopped Karim Benzema’s 10-yard effort after 57 minutes.

`Not as Strong’

France has only once failed to advance beyond the group stage and won the quadrennial event in 1984 and 2000. Romania, which has won once in 11 European Championship games, was a quarterfinalist 8 years ago.

Romania coach Victor Piturca set up his team to stifle France, which dominated possession without being able to create many chances. Key French pair Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry missed the game because of thigh injuries.

“France are maybe not as strong as they once were,” Piturca said on the tournament’s Web site.

Four groups of four teams are contesting Euro 2008, with Spain facing Russia and Greece taking on Sweden in today’s opening Group D games in Austria.

The final will be played on June 29.