The Netherlands - again without impressing, defeated Japan by 1-0 and could mathematically secure a spot on the second round tonight if the World Cup 2010 game between Cameroon and Denmark ends a tie. Wesley Sneijder scored the only goal of the game played in the Moses Mabhida Stadium of Durban, and now Holland has 6 total points in Group E of the tournament. Arjen Robben did not play again for the Netherlands since coach Bert van Marwijk decided not to take the risk.

Another bad first half in the World Cup 2010, with the Netherlands having the ball possession but without really threatening Eiji Kawashima. Japan made a couple of chances with Keisuke Honda and Yuto Nagatomo, with both players missing the target. The game did not really change that much in the second half, the only difference was the Netherlands actually scoring a goal to take the lead: Sneijder sent a powerful shot to Kawashima that was not able to control the ball that ended up in the back of his net. Japan missed a chance with Yoshito Ōkubo on the very first play after Holland’s goal, but Maarten Stekelenburg fell on the right side to successfully block the ball.

The Netherlands made a few chances later on, mostly with Ibrahim Afellay that came in as a substitution for Sneijder. Japan lost their biggest chance of the game in extra time when Shinji Okazaki barely missed a close shot.

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