'Wingers and new-look defence were key'

Wingers Arjen Robben and Dirk Kuijt made the difference in the Netherlands' 2-0 World Cup Group One qualifying win over Romania but coach Marco van Basten says his stand-in defenders also played a vital role.

Chelsea winger Robben scored the first goal after 26 minutes set up by Kuijt, while Robben repaid the compliment early in the second half by crossing for the Feyenoord man to head his second international goal.

"We are very pleased that Robben is fit and has shown that he is one of the best strikers in Europe," said van Basten.

"It is a pleasure to see him play like this but we had other players with excellent performances."

The win kept the Netherlands top of the group with 19 points after seven matches. The Czech Republic are second on 18 after thrashing Andorra 8-1 but Romania have now dropped off the pace on 13 and that a game more than the top two.

Van Basten was forced to replace three of his four first-choice defenders for the game. Jan Kromkamp and Joris Mathijsen are both out with long-term injuries while Khalid Boulahrouz was hurt in training on Friday.

PSV Eindhoven's Theo Lucius and AZ Alkmaar's Barry Opdam both made their debut and received warm words from van Basten, who now has the best start to the job of anyone having gone unbeaten in his first 10 games.

"Opdam is a player with experience and he made an excellent debut but also Lucius and Heitinga did well," van Basten said.

"It gives a lot of confidence despite having to replace three of my four defenders we kept a clean sheet again - also because of our top-class goalkeeper."

It was not all compliments from van Basten, however, who was disappointed that Romania's midfielder Dorinel Munteanu was not put under more pressure.

"That forced us back and that was also why I replaced Mark van Bommel early in the second half," he said.

"Mark van Bommel didn't do what I expected from him and I thought that Nigel de Jong would do better."

For the match against Finland in Helsinki on Wednesday van Basten will have to replace Rafael van der Vaart, who is suspended after being booked on Saturday. Philip Cocu is likely to make his return after missing the Romania match with a knee injury.

"Philip (Cocu) is an important in form player for us with so much experience that I might take a risk with him," said van Basten, who said Boulahrouz would also rejoin the squad.