So much for the group of death. Holland treated it with the contempt traditionally reserved for end-ofseason tours to places such as Trinidad and Tobago. Far from keeping Europe on the edge of its seat with a hundred little twists and turns before a pulsating finale was reached in the final games next week, the Dutch wrapped it up, first place and all, with a match to spare and a spectacular goal aggregate of 7-1 from two meetings with the World Cup finalists of 2006.

Proving that the destruction of Italy was no fluke, Holland took the French apart last night, thanks in no small part to the courage of Marco van Basten, the coach, whose response to a single-goal lead at half-time was to replace a defensive midfield player, Orlando Engelaar, with a flying winger, Arjen Robben, who ran France ragged down Holland’s left flank. Robben scored one and made another, justifying the boldness of Van Basten’s decision.

Tournament winners have to be prepared to risk and Van Basten deserved all he got. Raymond Domenech, of France, by contrast left his best young players, Karim Benzema and Samir Nasri, imprisoned on the bench and now faces a bleak future. The group won, Holland can afford to field a reserve team against Romania on Tuesday and a Romanian victory would leave France and Italy out and fighting to avoid the wooden spoon in Zurich the same night. They would already be as good as gone by now had Gianluigi Buffon, the Italy goalkeeper, not saved a penalty from Adrian Mutu in the preceding game. Such a set of circumstances seemed inconceivable before the competition began; indeed, of all the leading nations going into the tournament, it was widely agreed that Holland were most vulnerable.

How ridiculous that assessment seems now. Holland rode their luck, briefly, at the start of the second half, when Andre Ooijer charged down a close-range shot from Thierry Henry with an outstretched arm, but the incident was either missed, or deemed accidental, by Herbert Fandel, the referee from Germany. For the rest of the game they were on top. Ahead after ten minutes through Dirk Kuyt, running himself into the ground in the process and substituted after 55 minutes to warm applause, Holland were comfortable for all but isolated spells and when France pulled the score back to 2-1 in the 70th minute, their riposte was to go up the other end and score, almost directly from kick-off.

The best goal of the night, by Wesley Sneijder in injury time, gave the scoreline an emphasis that strangles any Gallic protests in the throat as France succumbed to their worst defeat in a leading tournament since 1958. The penalty, if given, might have drawn France level, but Holland were in a different class. They are a team playing with a real sense of purpose and they now demand to be taken seriously. The controversy over Ruud van Nistelrooy’s goal was a distraction against Italy, but the potency of last night’s performance cannot be denied.

What was most impressive was the variety of Holland’s routes to goal, a strong set-piece, an excellent counter-attack and two fine individual efforts showcasing the range of talents within this team, blessed with stamina as well as skill. Particularly pleasing was the sight of unsung heroes, such as Kuyt, getting their moment of glory and the reunion with his excited tot of a daughter, Noelle, pitch-side after matches is one of the most heartwarming sights of the tournament. Sorry to get all sentimental, but it is.

It helps when daddy has just scored the goal that places one giant orange foot in the quarter-finals and Kuyt did that early in the first half, with a powerful header from a right-sided corner by Rafael van der Vaart. The goal, which rocked France after a healthy start, was simply executed and devastatingly aided by pathetic defending from Florent Malouda, the Chelsea midfield player. Detailed to mark Kuyt, Malouda forget one thing: to challenge for the ball when it arrived. So, instead of making an attempt to beat his man in the air, he did that prissy wrestling turn that passes for resistance these days, grappling with his hands on Kuyt’s shoulders when a proper physical confrontation would have put his head where it might get hurt. Kuyt dismissed Malouda’s attention as any goalscorer of worth would and delivered a powerful header from close range that left Grégory Coupet, in the France goal, with no chance.

France improved before half-time and the outstanding Edwin van der Sar, the Holland goalkeeper, was called into action three times in quick succession. This makes Van Basten’s decision to up the ante with the addition of Robben all the braver and he was rewarded in the 59th minute with a goal that left France staring at the road home. Ruud van Nistelrooy’s back-heel took several France defenders out of the game and allowed Robben to speed down the left flank, his cross finding another substitute, Robin van Persie, on for Kuyt, at the far post. Had Coupet made more of an effort to keep the ball out, who knows what might have happened; instead, he seemed almost resigned to his fate, sticking out one hand in a half-hearted attempt at opposition. The ball struck him, but bounced off and over the line. If he had a towel, he should have thrown that into the net as well.

Henry scored France’s first goal of the competition after 70 minutes, from a cross by Willy Sagnol, and that raised the spirits of Les Bleus slightly, but Robben extinguished all hope seconds later when, from a tight angle on the left, he somehow found a way past the unimpressive Coupet. Sneijder provided the defining image of Dutch supremacy, and nicked the man-of-the-match award in the process, with the fourth goal in the second minute of stoppage time. He turned in an arc 25 yards from goal and unleashed a shot that curled viciously and was past Coupet in a flash. Holland can now plan for a quarter-final in eight days’ time, while the fate of France is in Romanian hands. Allez oops, indeed.

Holland (4-2-3-1): E van der Sar — K Boulahrouz, A Ooijer, J Mathijsen, G van Bronckhorst — N de Jong, O Engelaar (sub: A Robben, 46min) — D Kuyt (sub: R van Persie, 55), R van der Vaart (sub: W Bouma, 78), W Sneijder — R van Nistelrooy. Substitutes not used: H Timmer, M Stekelenburg, J Heitinga, D de Zeeuw, M Melchiot, T de Cler, K J Huntelaar, I Afellay, J Vennegor of Hesselink. Booked: Ooijer.

France (4-2-3-1): G Coupet — W Sagnol, L Thuram, W Gallas, P Evra — J Toulalan, C Makelele — S Govou (sub: N Anelka, 75), F Ribéry, F Malouda (sub: B Gomis, 59) — T Henry. Substitutes not used: S Mandanda, S Frey, J-A Boumsong, E Abidal, P Vieira, K Benzema, S Nasri, F Clerc, S Squillaci, L Diarra. Booked: Makelele, Toulalan.

Referee: H Fandel (Germany).