It's the Robben and Robin show on the Dutch wings By RAF CASERT Sat, June 17, 2006

FREIBURG, Germany (AP) - It's the Robben and Robin show on the Dutch wings. And it's largely why the Netherlands is in the second round of the World Cup.

Chelsea's Arjen Robben roams the left flank and Arsenal's Robin van Persie takes care of the right to dumbfound defenders. In between, a third Premier League star is lurking - Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy.

In the World Cup's toughest group, Netherlands has already advanced with a game to spare because of victory over Serbia-Montenegro and Friday's 2-1 win over Ivory Coast. And both wingers have a goal and an assist to show for it. They go for the Group C No. 1 spot against Argentina on Wednesday.

"At times, we played great. Excellent combination play, and we can be rightly proud that we have reached the second round," Van Persie said.

Not only did he create the foul that set up his blistering freekick goal for the opener, Van Persie never neglected defense and even chested a ball off his own goalline. In reality, that was as important as the goal he scored.

His standout performance came in the wake of his criticism after the first win that play should be going more his way. If some saw it as attention grabbing, the results were evident on Friday. The Dutch attack was much more balanced, allowing Van Persie to shine but not at the cost of Robben, who collected a second consecutive Man-of-the-Match award.

Dutch great Johan Cruyff came out in praise of 22-year-old Van Persie.

"He was the best and not only because of his goal, but also because of the way he kept the ball and defended," said Cruyff.

Robben and Van Persie have those qualities all great wingers of the past have had.

They have a deft touch on the ball, great dribbling to get past a defender and searing acceleration to rush into the center. They also have to ability to make space for themselves on the sidelines when seemingly none is left.

Dutch coach Marco van Basten could be proud of the system he wrought. From the start of his coaching career, he wanted a good, old-fashioned 4-3-3, system, recognizable to all players. He stuck with it and has had a lot of success so far.

With Robben and Van Persie close to the sidelines, it pulls opposing defenses to the outward extremes and creates room in the middle for a power forward like Van Nistelrooy to thrive.

Little wonder the vital assist for Van Nistelrooy's game winner came from Robben, another 22-year old on Van Basten's young squad.

"It is the biggest goal I have ever scored, no doubt about it," said Van Nistelrooy, who has three goals in his last four games and 27 in 53 matches for the Netherlands.