Day 3

The Dutch started their campaign with a 1-0 win over Serbia & Montenegro thanks to a Robben strike early in the first half. Most of the Dutch attack was done the left flank with van Bronkhorst and Robben - in particular - causing all sorts of problem for the Serbian defence. Prior to this game, the Serbs had conceded just one goal on their way to Germany and were hoping to keep that record intact, but Robben had other plans and spoiled the Serb party with a neat run and finish after van Persie flicked the ball on to this path. The game was played under humicd conditions and it was evident from the players as they had to regularly drench themselves in water to avoid any problems! The Serbs brought on the 6'8" Zigic, but though he caused the Dutch defence to panic at times, he was not able to bring them on level terms with the Dutch. Though they have three points in the bag now, the Dutch have to face Argentina later and that could very well decide the winner of the group. Going back in time a bit, Holland sent Argentina packing at USA 94 with Bergkamp scoring a last minute winner. Will Argentina get their revenge here? Or will the Dutch bring ontheir 'total football' under the leadership of Marco van Basten? Only time will tell, but even now, it promises to be a mouth watering encounter.
Serbia & Montenegro 0 - 1 Holland
17-Robben(NED)

Mexico and Iran battled it out in the Group D encounter at Nuremberg and as expected the Mexicans cruised to a 3-1 win, but the scroreline would have looke more competetive if it was not for the Iranian defence - along with their 'keeper - which looked woefully out of place at times. And their mistakes cost them dearly as Mexico pnuished them, with Bravo getting a brace. Golmohammadi had earlier brought Iran back into the game but their defending let them down and soon the game was out of their hands.
Mexico 3-1 Iran
27-Bravo(MEX), 35-Golmohammadi(IRA), 75-Bravo(MEX), 78-Zinha(MEX)

Later, Potugal faced Angola, and a solitary goal from Pauleta was enough to see them through. Pauleta struck in the 3rd minute to give the Portuguese the lead and the scoreline remained the same for the rest of the game and though they had a couple of good changes to bag in another one, somehow, Portugal were not able to finish the moves that they started. They need to look at their attacking line if they want to progress further, where they will have to face tougher opponents.
Angola 0-1 Porutgal
3-Pauleta(POR)