Netherlands defeats Slovakia, 2-1, to reach final eight

DURBAN, South Africa - Impressive as Arjen Robben and his Dutch teammates were in advancing to the World Cup quarterfinals, they seek much more.

The Netherlands reached the final eight Monday when standouts Robben and Wesley Sneijder scored in each half of a 2-1 victory over Slovakia.

"We played a difficult match. Main thing is, we are through," Robben said. "Probably the perfect game has still to come."

The Dutch might need to approach perfection in their next match, against five-time champion Brazil on Friday. For now, they can enjoy the rekindling of the crafty Dutch offense - and they can credit Robben, who made his first start of the tournament after recovering from a hamstring injury.

The Oranje, who have never won soccer's biggest prize, went ahead in the 18th minute when Robben cut inside from the right wing and found the net with a low, precise shot from 20 yards.

"It's fantastic," coach Bert van Marwijk said. "After such an injury that he has the touch to score a goal like that."

The Moses Mabhida Stadium was filled mostly with orange-clad Netherlands fans and they blasted their vuvuzelas on Robben's first touch. After his goal, the sound became deafening.

Sneijder doubled the lead into an empty net in the 84th minute after a gamble by Slovak goalkeeper Jan Mucha backfired.

"We had a good first half-hour. And we started well in the second half," Van Marwijk said. "We should have scored 2-0, 3-0, maybe 4-0 there."

Netherlands goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg preserved the win with two key saves in the 67th minute and the Dutch extended their team-record unbeaten streak to 23 games. Robert Vittek scored on a last-second penalty kick for Slovakia, then rushed to the net to retrieve the ball, only to hear the final whistle.

"At a crucial stage, Maarten Stekelenburg saved us," van Marwijk said.

It was only a month ago when Robben and Sneijder were on opposite sides of the pitch in the Champions League final - Robben with Bayern Munich and Sneijder with winner Inter Milan.

"[Robben] is a total genius, and when I saw him in the starting lineup, I thought he makes the Dutch team 50 percent stronger - and I was right," Slovakia coach Vladimir Weiss said.