Orange squash Scotland

Ruud van Nistelrooy hit a hat-trick as the Netherlands crushed Scotland 6-0 on Wednesday to reach the Euro 2004 finals and avenge a shock 1-0 defeat in last weekend8217;s playoff first leg in Glasgow. Midfielder Wesley Sneijder engineered the second leg walkover, rifling home in the 14th minute before providing identical free-kicks that were headed in by defender Andre Ooijer and Van Nistelrooy before halftime.

A Sneijder corner was later nodded home by substitute Frank de Boer, either side of strikes by Van Nistelrooy on one of the worst days in Scottish football history.

Dutch coach Dick Advocaat made four changes for the second leg after Saturday8217;s embarrassment at Hampden Park. With Jaap Stam suspended, Michael Reiziger was posted as full back, while Giovanni van Bronckhorst, De Boer and Patrick Kluivert were all dropped after disappointing displays.

Scotland, hoping to defend their lead, showed plenty of early fight but were clearly no match for the passing and movement of the revitalised Dutch. Andy van der Meyde and Marc Overmars marauded freely down the flanks while Rafael van der Vaart, Sneijder and Van Nistelrooy provided the more direct threat through the middle.

As expected, the match got off to an explosive start, with referee Lubos Michel making three bookings in the first 10 minutes to keep control and Van der Vaart heading a Van der Meyde cross narrowly off target. But 19-year-old Sneijder made no mistake when he ran through the Scotland half and pulled the trigger from over 20 metres, beating keeper Robert Douglas with a low drive.

Scotland came close to an equaliser after 25 minutes but Lee Wilkie headed a free kick just wide at the far post and the home side soon put the game beyond their reach. A Wilkie header that Dutch keeper Edwin van der Sar scrambled away for a corner was Scotland8217;s best chance before the hosts returned to the attack after the re-start.

Ooijer and Van Nistelrooy were both unchallenged as they headed home Sneijder8217;s free kicks from close range. Van Nistelrooy lifted his second past Douglas after a neat combination with Van der Vaart while De Boer, who came on at halftime for Ooijer, celebrated his 108th cap by heading home a corner in yet another poorly-defended set piece.

The rout was complete when Van Nistelrooy, top scorer with Manchester United in the English Premier League last season, met Van der Meyde8217;s cross from the right with a mis-hit volley that still beat Douglas. Reuters