Francesco Toldo kept Italian hopes alive in Amsterdam with a fantastic penalty save to deny Frank de Boer.

With Italy down to 10 men, after a 34th-minute red card for Gianluca Zambrotta, the Dutch skipper had the chance to put his country within reach of Sunday's final but saw his spot-kick tipped around the post.

Holland, brimming with confidence after their 6-1 quarter-final rout of Yugoslavia and cheered on by a partisan home crowd, had carved out the first glimpse of goal.

Predictably it was Dennis Bergkamp who engineered the opening, picking out a surging run from Philip Cocu. The Barcelona midfielder reached the pass but could only poke it over the bar at full stretch.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst, at left-back instead of his injured Rangers team-mate Arthur Numan, charged down the flank and delivered a tempting cross but Francesco Toldo had no problems saving Bergkamp's tame header.

The Arsenal maestro thumped a right-foot shot against the foot of the post, in the 15th minute, after jinking past Mark Iuliano, inside the penalty area. Iuliano and Gianluca Zambrotta were cautioned as the Italians battled to contain the Dutch.

Toldo clutched the ball gratefully as it glanced off Iuliano's head towards his own goal and the Italian keeper was relieved to see Jaap Stam's header flash wide from van Bronckhorst's in-swinging free-kick.

Holland thought they had a penalty in the 27th minute when Bergkamp's quick free-kick released Boudewijn Zenden on the left. He darted into the box and went to ground after pushing the ball past Alessandro Nesta.

But referee Markus Merk dismissed Dutch penalty claims and instead booked the Barcelona wing-man for diving.

Zenden's pace made a major impact in the 34th minute, however, when he zipped past Zambrotta on the left wing. The Juventus man clipped his heels and received his second yellow card of the game.

Italy's anger at the referee's decision was compounded, four minutes later, when he spotted Nesta holding Patrick Kluivert as the Dutch striker shielded the ball in front of goal and awarded a penalty.

Frank de Boer struck his spot-kick well but Toldo dived low to his left to brilliantly turn the shot around the post.