FULL-TIME: NETHERLANDS 3-0 ITALY

Toni tees up Ambrosini with some strong play but his shot from just six yards is deflected wide - it's just not Italy's night!

Three minutes of stoppage time will be added

The Italian players are desperate for the final whistle to blow as they've been taken apart by two quite brilliant counter-attacking goals tonight

van Persie earns a yard of space in the box after out-foxing two defenders but his left-foot shot flies across the face of goal and out for a goal-kick

Holland are refusing to give up at three and Afellay and Sneijder are leading the push for more goals on this memorable evening

The orange two thirds of the stadium is rocking now and who can blame them after this excellent performance

Afellay's first taste of the action sees him rattle the crossbar with a cross-cum-shot from a tight angle - that would have been some introduction!

Ibrahim Afellay comes on for Kuyt

NETHERLANDS 3-0 ITALY: Just as in the first half, play switches to the other end and, after Kuyt sees his shot saved by Buffon, he picks out van Bronckhorst with a cross and his header is blocked and turned into his own net by Zambrotta

Van der Sar is at it again as he springs across his line to claw out a brilliant Pirlo free-kick with a brilliant one-handed save

Grosso is foiled by Van der Sar from close range and Heitinga is rescued by Joris Mathijsen after dallying over his clearance

Johnny Heitinga replaces Boulahrouz for the Dutch

Toni wastes a gilt-edged chance as he times his run to perfection to latch onto Cassano's ball over the top but lofts his effort high over Van der Sar and the crossbar from eight yards

Antonio Cassano comes on for Camoranesi as Roberto Donadoni makes a third and final change

van der Vaart steps over the ball and allows van Persie through on goal but the flag goes up for offside

Pirlo finds Del Piero in the corner of the penalty area and he takes two steps forward before curling a shot just off target - that was close though and a warning for the Dutch

Robin van Persie comes on for a tired looking van Nistelrooy

Van der Vaart lofts a 30-yard free-kick high over the crossbar in a rare foray forward by the Dutch now

Kuyt heads clear a corner at the near post and the Liverpool man has worked his socks off so far tonight

Del Piero's first touch draws a save out of Van der Sar as he earns a few yards on the edge of the box but curls a shot straight into the grateful arms of the keeper

Alessandro Del Piero replaces Di Natale for Italy

Pirlo wastes a free-kick by thrashing it straight out of play from a wide position - he hasn't looked at his reliable best so far tonight

Toni takes the ball down well with his back to goal but his shot on the turn under pressure from two defenders lacks venom and is easy for the keeper

Nigel de Jong is booked for pulling back Ambrosini after being caught in possession

Italy are slowly starting to boss possession as the Dutch begin to sit back and protect their lead

Fabio Grosso replaces Materazzi for Italy

Zambrotta nutmegs Kuyt on the byline and gets into the box but his ball across the face of goal drifts out of play at the far post

Ooijer rises at the back post but he can't quite get enough off his head on a deep corner under pressure from two blue shirts

Gattuso is booked for some off-the-ball dissent - are the Italians starting to lose their discipline?

Pirlo almost picks out the run in behind the back four of Camoranesi - Italy need more in the second half from both of their attacking midfielders

van Nistelrooy has three men around him but still manages to dig out a cross which Buffon claims - that was good work from the striker though

Ambrosini earns the wrath of Ooijer as he goes down looking for a penalty after a clean tackle

Holland kick-off the second period with a two-goal advantage

HALF-TIME: NETHERLANDS 2-0 ITALY

Di Natale fires a rising shot from the edge of the box over the crossbar with a calm Van der Sar covering

The seas of orange-clad fans inside this stadium are enjoying this as we move towards the end of a superb first half

Buffon keeps Italy alive as van der Vaart picks out he run of van Nistelrooy with a sublime pass but the keeper's outstretched leg prevents the striker's shot from finding the back of the net

Italy could really do with finding a goal before half-time if they are to get anything out of this match, but they haven't yet clicked in the attacking third

Kuyt gives away the ball to Pirlo in a dangerous area but his ambitious pass fails to find Toni and a great chance goes begging

Roberto Donadoni looks an agitated figure in the Italian technical area and he will need a big half-time team-talk to salvage this game now

This has been an enthralling first third to the game and the Dutch have been ruthless in front of goal

Zambrotta is booked for a cynical clip at the heels of Kuyt

Di Natale volleys from ten yards through the legs of Khalid Boulahrouz but Van der Sar holds at the second attempt as the game switches from one end to the other

NETHERLANDS 2-0 ITALY: van Bronckhorst leads the break from the back and his long ball into the box is headed down for SNEIJDER who squeezes a shot between Buffon and the post - what a stunning goal!

van Bronckhorst is in the right place at the right time to clear a glancing header off his line following a corner

Mauro Camoranesi plays in Gianluca Zambrotta with a superb angled pass but his first touch is heavy and Italy win only a corner from a promising break

Toni twists his way into the box before falling to the ground in search of a penalty - both he and the defender had an equal handful of each other's shirts there

Toni is booked for leading the Italy protests against a goal that clearly should not have stood

NETHERLANDS 1-0 ITALY: VAN NISTELROOY pokes home from close range after van Bronckhorst fires a corner back into the six-yard box with an attempted shot - he was miles offside though!

Materazzi gets the slightest of touches to a wicked free-kick to just take it out of the reach of van Nistelrooy who was shaping to head home at the back post

Andrea Pirlo's deep free-kick is slightly over-hit and Toni can't quite get a header on target from just a couple of yards out

Marco Materazzi gets a vital head to the ball to prevent a long Edwin van der Sar clearance from playing van der Vaart clean through on goal in the ultimate route one play

Dirk Kuyt plays in van Nistelrooy who takes the ball around Buffon and after opting not to go down following some contact from the keeper finds the angle too acute to go for goal - that's a let off for Italy

There's plenty of patience on show from both sides after a high-octane opening and this is developing into a fascinating chess match

Giovanni van Bronckhorst earns a stern talking to from the referee for going straight through Christian Panucci on the touchline

Toni pulls off the shoulder of his marker but mis-times his header and can only loop his effort wide from eight yards - team-mate Di Natale was screaming for a knock down there too

Rafael van der Vaart picks up a loose ball but his low left-footed drive is straight at Buffon who holds with relative ease

Wesley Sneijder's low free-kick from 25 yards squeezes through the wall but hits the backside of team-mate Andre Ooijer

Giant midfielder Orlando Engelaar is already looking a class addition to the Dutch side as he is happy both winning the ball and distributing it to his more attacking team-mates

Van Nistelrooy goes for goal from the corner of the penalty area but his low shot cannons away off the body of Andrea Barzagli

Both teams already look comfortable in possession which is unsurprising considering the quality of player on show

At the other end, Antonio Di Natale's cross is just too far ahead of Luca Toni for the other lethal striker on the pitch to stab home - this is a good start to the match though

Massimo Ambrosini's mis-directed header is claimed by Gianluigi Buffon with Ruud van Nistelrooy looking to take advantage of an early mistake

Italy get this mouth-watering encounter off and running

30,000 passionate fans are packed inside the Wankdorf and this should be a cracking game

The Holland also have their injury troubles as Arjen Robben is sidelined with a groin problem

World champions Italy are without injured captain Fabio Cannavaro who will take no part in the competition after damaging ankle ligaments

The two heavyweights are both expected to feature in the knockout stages, but defeat for either tonight would severely dent their hopes of qualifying from what is a genuine ‘Group of Death’

Holland and Italy lock horns in the most eagerly-anticipated Euro 2008 group stage game so far