Elia dashes Scotland hopes

Scotland's flickering World Cup hopes were cruelly snuffed out by Holland substitute Eljero Elia's late winner.

Defeat to Holland ends World Cup dream

Scotland's flickering World Cup hopes were cruelly snuffed out by Holland substitute Eljero Elia's late winner at Hampden Park. George Burley's side needed to defeat the already qualified Dutch to have any realistic hope of snatching one of the eight play-off berths, but the 1-0 loss saw them slip to third in Group 9 behind Norway, who overcame Macedonia 2-1. Scotland matched the Dutch, who had won all seven of their previous qualifiers, but were unable to convert any of the chances they created, with Kenny Miller missing a glorious first-half opportunity. Miller also struck the bar in the opening period and then saw rookie goalkeeper Michel Vorm scramble his well-struck second-half effort around the post, while Scott Brown could have done better with an early opportunity which flew just wide. Bert van Marwijk's visitors created several openings of their own before finally breaking through, with Dirk Kuyt rattling the post in the opening moments and David Marshall - deputising for the injured Craig Gordon - twice called upon to produce smart stops from the lively Arjen Robben. But Marshall could do nothing when Elia burst clear after David Weir made a hash of his header from a long Dutch clearance, with the lightning-quick young Hamburg forward showing superb feet to round the keeper and slot home on his competitive debut. The defeat and subsequent failure to reach the World Cup will place a huge question mark over the future of under-pressure boss Burley after a hugely-disappointing campaign.

Ferocious

There was a major let-off for the Scots with just four minutes on the clock when Kuyt unleashed a ferocious shot from the edge of the box which smacked off Marshall's left-hand post. The early scare appeared to spark the home nation into action and Naismith teed up the shot for Rangers club-mate Miller but his effort cannoned off Andre Ooijer and nothing came of the resultant corner. Scotland were threatening again moments later when Alan Hutton flighted a lovely ball to the back post but Brown - the goal hero against Macedonia on Saturday - stabbed agonisingly wide of the upright as Burley shook his head in disbelief in the dugout. Darren Fletcher then recovered from a nasty challenge, which earned Robin van Persie a yellow card, to barge his way through a sea of orange shirts towards goal only to show too much to Vorm, who was able to smother before the Manchester United midfielder could unleash a shot. Scotland had enjoyed a period of pressure without being able to capitalise and it was a full-stretch Marshall who was called into action to keep the scoreline level when he tipped a well-struck shot from Sneijder over the crossbar. The Cardiff goalkeeper did well again moments later, this time blocking from Robben from 10 yards after he had been played through on goal by Van Persie. With half an hour gone, it was Scotland's turn to be denied by the woodwork. Brown flicked into the path of Miller and he managed to shrug off Joris Mathijsen only to rifle off the crossbar with no-one able to follow up. The Rangers striker then squandered another great chance to hand the Scots the lead. A long-range shot from Naismith was touched onto the post by Vorm, before Miller pounced on the rebound and fired straight into the arms of the goalkeeper when it looked so much easier to score.

Pressed

The tempo had dipped slightly in the second half and it was Holland who went close when Sneijder's corner was met by the head of Kuyt but he nodded just over from close range. Then, at a time when simulation has dominated the headlines, Liverpool man Kuyt was booked for diving by Danish referee Claus Bo Larsen after going to ground under pressure from Stephen McManus. Still the Dutch pressed for the opener and Marshall came to the rescue with an excellent stop to prevent an angled drive from Robben finding the back of the net. Miller had the opportunity to make amends for his earlier chances when the ball broke to him 10 yards out but once again he was denied by Vorm, who managed to block the point-blank shot for a corner. Scotland continued to search for the elusive goal and every member of the Tartan Army was on their feet when Whittaker slotted into the path of Maloney who found himself one on one with the goalkeeper but failed to control properly and allowed Vorm to smother, although the flag had gone up for offside. Maloney then turned provider with a long ball to substitute Kris Commons but he was off target with a diving header at the far post. Instead, it was Holland substitute Elia who found the back of the net with eight minutes remaining when Weir inadvertently nodded the ball into his path and he sent an angled drive into the back of the net despite the efforts of Hutton on the line.

Scotland	Team Statistics	Netherlands
0	Goals	1
0	1st Half Goals	0
4	Shots on Target	6
5	Shots off Target	8
3	Blocked Shots	3
3	Corners	6
14	Fouls	15
3	Offsides	4
3	Yellow Cards	3
0	Red Cards	0
66.2	Passing Success	85.2
19	Tackles	24
63.2	Tackles Success	79.2
29.1	Possession	70.9
49.5	Territorial Advantage	50.5