Forward Gerald Sibon duly slammed in a penalty in the second half to send the Netherlands into the quarterfinals of the men's Olympic soccer in Shenyang, northeast China, on Wednesday.

The Dutch was awarded the penalty kick in the 73rd minute, after Liverpool's Ryan Babel was hauled down at the edge of the area by midfielder Keisuke Honda.

In the other match of the pool, Nigeria beat the United States 2-1, joining hands with the Netherlands to reach the knockout stage.

The Dutch lineup also include veteran striker Roy Makaay and Valencia's Hedwiges Maduro. But the star-studded squad lacked the prowess or luck to score.

In the first half, Ryan Babel nearly presented an own goal to consolate the Japanese which have already been eliminated after two group stage losses.

In the 36th minute, midfielder Urby Emanuelson curled a corner from the left to the front of the goal. The ball rebounded from Babel towards the goal, forcing Kenneth Vermeer to make an accurate save.

One minute before break, Dutch forward Gerald Sibon launched a superb bicycle kick inside the area, but could only find the side netting.

Right into the second half, the Dutch had two direct free kicks hitting the crossbar and the left post respectively.

The Japanese also lacked the final touch as in the 55th minute, a strengthful shot from outside the box by forward Yohei Toyoda was saved by Dutch goalie Kenneth Vermeer, and a Masato Morishige's shot four minutes later was thwarted by the bar.

Netherlands had two draws with the United States and Nigeria and advanced to the next round as the second-ranked team.

(Xinhua News Agency August 13,2008)