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Edwin's Oranje off to a flier

Edwin van der Sar and Holland got off to a flying start in Euro 2008 Group C with a comprehensive 3-0 win over world champions Italy.

/noticias.info/ It was a classy attacking display from the Dutch, who Italy found it difficult to cope with.

Former Reds striker Ruud van Nistelrooy gave the Oranje a fortunate lead when he turned in a close-range finish on 26 minutes - the match officials failing to spot that he was clearly offside.

Italy had every reason to feel hard done by, but there could be no complaints about Wesley Sneijder's second strike five minutes later. A rapid counter attack cut mercilessly through the Italian defence and ended with a expert volleyed finish from Sneijder.

Van der Sar was called upon late on to produce stunning saves from Fabio Grosso and Andrea Pirlo before Giovanni van Bronckhorst headed in Holland's third after 80 minutes.

The result puts Marco van Basten's men top of Group C above Patrice Evra's France and Romania, who played out a 0-0 bore draw in the group's other opening clash.

Evra didn't play in the match as he was kept out by Barcelona left-back Eric Abidal.

It was a poor display from the French, who are unlikely to progress to the knockout stages if they continue to produce such abject performances in their remaining matches against Holland and Italy. notas_de_prensa_archivo