Van Basten happy for team to celebrate
STUTTGART, June 16 (Reuters) - Netherlands coach Marco Van Basten excused his players their exuberant celebrations after a 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast on Saturday sent them into the last 16 of the World Cup.
The Dutch squad paraded in front of a sea of joyful orange fans as if they had won the World Cup final itself, joining in the songs and taking their bows.
'For a lot of these players it's their first World Cup so I can understand why they are so happy to be 100 percent after two matches in such a hard group,' Van Basten told reporters.
'Every team could win in this group and for us to be already through makes us very, very happy. I'm very proud that we managed to avoid conceding a second goal.
'Now we will play to win our last game against Argentina and try to top the group.'
Argentina, who thrashed Serbia & Montenegro 6-0 earlier on Friday in the other Group C match, and the Dutch will meet in Frankfurt on Wednesday to establish who finishes top, although Van Basten's side will have to win as their goal difference is inferior.
Robin Van Persie scored the first goal and was instrumental throughout the match. He said the players were ecstatic at securing their passage into the next round.
'It's hard to explain, something is growing, there is a fantastic atmosphere,' said the Arsenal player.
'We played well but above all we worked very hard and I think we deserved the praise today.'
Van Basten said he was relieved to come through such a tough examination against the powerful Africans.
'The last 15 minutes of the first half we looked a bit lost,' he said. 'The second half was still very difficult for us and they put us under constant pressure for 45 minutes.
'(Ivory Coast) gave Argentina lots of problems so I was very proud that we did not concede a second goal today against probably the strongest team in Africa.'
Midfielder Mark van Bommel was more critical.
'Until leading 2-0 we had played well, then we lost it,' said Van Bommel.
'We played badly but ... we have to learn from it. Ivory Coast were strong opponents. They were always dangerous. I'm glad we don't have to play them again.'
