Euro 2008 - Day 3 Holland on Target

Day 3 of the 2008 European Championships saw a bore 0-0 draw between France and Romania followed by a resounding Dutch effort in a 3-0 win over shocked Italian squad. 

France 0  Romania 0
I have often heard the phrase "you can't win a tourney on opening day, but you can certainly lose one" many times. Today it was in full effect as Romania played not to lose and a French squad did not show the flare to break them down.  The result was a 0-0 draw in which the crowd spent most of the 2nd half voicing its displeasure with the lackluster play.  Both teams were clearly content with the point from the match.  Clear-cut chances were at a premium, Les Bleus pair Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda having the best of them, as defences came out on top in a match to forget for the strikers. It was not all bad news for France on Monday - prior to the match, it was revealed that captain Patrick Vieira would be remaining with the squad for the rest of the competition despite his thigh problem.  But the Internazionale midfielder and star striker Thierry Henry, who also missed the match through injury, were sorely missed as the Romanians survived comfortably.

Netherlands 3  Italy 0
World champions Italy suffered a calamitous start to their Euro 2008 campaign as they fell to an impressive Holland in their Group C opener in Bern.  The Dutch were lucky to take a 26th-minute lead after Ruud van Nistelrooy turned in Giovanni van Bronckhorst's effort despite being clearly offside.  Wesley Sneijder then celebrated his 24th birthday in style by adding a stunning breakaway second on the half-hour mark.  Italy had numerous chances to reduce the deficit after the restart but Edwin van der Sar came to the rescue, making superb saves from Andrea Pirlo's free-kick and Fabio Grosso's close-range effort.  Van Bronckhorst completed a wonderful evening for Holland by heading past goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon in the 79th minute as the Dutch celebrated their first victory against the Italians since the 1978 World Cup.