Euro 2000 - Group D - Holland 1 Czech Republic 0

An 87th minute penalty from Frank De Boer saw an outplayed Holland luckily beat the Czech Republic in Amsterdam.

The Dutch survived a series of impressive attacks from the Czechs to see substitute Marc Overmars deliver a cross from the left that had Jiri Nemec pull the shirt of Ronald De Boer in the penalty area and Italian referee Pierluigi Collina did not hesitate to award the spot kick.

Ronald's twin brother Frank lashed the ball wide of Pavel Srnicek to horrify the Czechs. They had dominated the second half and scarcely deserved to lose against a Dutch team that faught among themselves during an awful first half.

Holland never came to terms with the Czechs playing 4-5-1 and defending tenaciously throughout the game.

The first half was very poor and the Czechs seemed to be playing for the draw.

All the action in the game came in the second half as the Czechs surprised the co hosts by seizing control of the game.

Just seconds into the half Pavel Nedved crossed from the left and Karel Poborsky was only inches from steering the ball into the net at the far post. The Benfica player hesitated at the decisive moment when he expected goalkeeper van der Sar to collect the cross but it was allowed through and Poborsky lunged too late to connect.

The Dutch goalkeeper had to save in the 53rd minute from the 6'6" Jan Koller after the striker was played in by Nedved only to see his shot turned away.

Pavel Nedved then experienced great disappointment when he hit a header against the post and saw the ball bounce down onto the line before van der Sar caught the ball but it had not crossed the line to Nedved's obvious anguish.

At this stage and for much of the first half the Dutch were extremely poor.

The co hosts decided to turn their energies into extended debates among their midfield which boiled over into blatant rows between Seedorf and Edgar Davids. Too many generals in the Dutch camp again threatened to overturn their tournament chances.

The Czechs came close to scoring again as they stormed forward. Poborsky hit a free kick into the penalty area and Koller jumped to head it against the bar.

The finalists from 1996 were competely in charge as the much vaunted Dutch stars faded entirely from the game and trusted to luck to save them.

Substitute Ronald de Boer skied a chance from an angled cross to the far post and Jaap Stam drove a free kick at goalkeeper Pavel Srnicek but there were only two shots on target from Holland in the half.

The best action - the only real action other than a Bergkamp turn and cross shot in the 18th minute - saw Pavel Srnicek produce a great double save.

Srnicek palmed away a Kluivert shot on the run and got off the ground to foil Boudewijn Zenden and smother his shot from a tight angle but only the form of the Czechs in the second half saved this game from looking very poor. The Czechs got no reward for their efforts at all.