Van Persie double helps Dutch down Romania
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E-mail Xinhua, March 27, 2013
The Netherlands continued its winning streak in World Cup qualification Group D by beating Romania 4-0 in Amsterdam on Tuesday, taking a major step towards the tournament in Brazil.
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Van Persie brace sinks Romania. |
After Friday's 3-0 victory over Estonia, coach Louis van Gaal lined up Rafael van der Vaart as central midfielder instead of Wesley Sneijder, who limped off with a groin injury against the Estonians. Kevin Strootman took over the captaincy from Sneijder.
Van der Vaart proved his class in the 12th minute. After a cross by Jeremain Lens, Robin van Persie passed to Van der Vaart and the latter scored from the edge of the penalty-area.
After the first fifteen minutes the level of the match decreased. Both teams did not create major opportunities.
The Dutch team dominated again in the second half and added more goals. Van Persie headed in his first goal from an Arjen Robben cross in the 56th minute and added a second ten minutes later from the penalty-spot. The penalty was awarded after a foul on Lens by Florin Gardos.
Van Persie scored his 34th goal for the Dutch team and passed legends Johan Cruijff and Abe Lenstra on the all-time ranking. Patrick Kluivert is all-time topscorer with 40 goals. Jeremain Lens made it 4-0 from close range in the final minute.
Also in Group D Turkey and Hungary drew 1-1 in Istanbul. After Burak Yilmaz opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, Daniel Bode equalized.
The Netherlands now are on 18 points after six victories in six matches. With four match rounds remaining Hungary trail by seven points and Romania are third, eight points behind the Dutch.
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