For the second straight match, the Ivory Coast were unlucky to lose.
The Elephants caused a lot of tense moments in the Dutch area, as they had 8 shots on goal versus 2 for the Netherlands, with 8 corners and only 3 for the Dutch.
The first half was action packed, with all the goals scored.
Ivory Coast may have deserved a penalty in the 12th minute when Dutchman Gio van Bronckhorst appeared to have brought down Emmanuel Eboue in the box, but the referee had none of it.
Netherlands scored first in the 23rd minute on a beautiful free kick by Robin van Persie, who blasted a bomb around both the Elephants' wall and keeper Jean-Jacques Tizie.
Four minutes later, and Netherlands scored their second.
Ruud van Nistelrooij neatly slipped in front of the defense to stay onsides, then found himself with the ball in the area and just the keeper to beat, which he did for the easy score.
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But the Elephants roared back.
In the 33rd minute, Elephant man Didier Zokora fired a cannon from distance that beat keeper Edwin van der Sar but not the woodwork - crossbar the villain.
Then five minutes on and the Ivory Coast got a stunning goal from Bakari Kone.
The brilliant individual effort saw Kone dribble around two Dutchmen and then launch a lengthy rocket into the upper corner of the goal.
Action slowed down in the second half, with Holland taking a more defensive stance.
The Netherlands were very fortunate to dodge a penalty in the 52nd minute when Dutchman Philip Cocu was not caught using his arm in the Dutch area to help defend a ball.
Minute 77, and the Ivory Coast would have scored if not for a Robin van Persie chest clearance off the line during a very dangerous threat from the Africans.
The Ivory Coast will be going home after their final Group match, but if they had not been drawn into this Group of Death, one has to believe they would have advanced.
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