Van Basten hails superb win
10 Jun 2008 - 07:13:47
Jubilant Holland coach Marco van Basten admitted Monday's 3-0 win over world champions Italy was a dream start to their Euro 2008 campaign.
Two superb breakaway goals from Wesley Sneijder and Giovanni van Bronckhorst added to an earlier strike from Ruud van Nistelrooy secured a first win over Italy for 30 years.
It also put them in pole position to qualify from a difficult Group C, which also contains France and AS Romania.
"It was an historic feat. This was against Italy, the world champions," enthused van Basten.
"To win 3-0 against Italy, a team with so much experience and quality, we didn't expect that. It was a truly good performance from everyone.
"I am happy and proud, but this is only a first step.
"If you think we were without players like Arjen Robben and Ryan Babel, the players reacted in a wonderful way.
"They fought like a team and if the spirit is like it was tonight, with all the quality we have, we can have nice dreams."
