Vitaliy Bulyga and Vladimir Korytko bagged second-half goals as Belarus finished their fruitless Group G campaign with a flourish against Holland.
Bulyga got the ball rolling with a sweet finish from a Korytko pass four minutes after the break, before the duo reversed roles and Korytko supplied the killer touch with a curled shot from the edge of the area 16 minutes later.
Ryan Babel hit the bar as Holland chased a way back in, but even when Rafael van der Vaart did succeed with a superb finish one minute from time, the game was lost.
The result, Belarus' second straight win, sees them climb two places to fourth in the final standings, while Holland, who had already qualified, complete the campaign in second place with 26 points.
Coming into the clash, Holland coach Marco van Basten had been on the receiving end of some stinging criticism for his side's inability to find the net and to judge from the first half it was not hard to see why.
Danny Koevermans emphasised the point with a shot that went woefully wide in the fourth minute and Babel underlined it with a drive that soared high over the bar 12 minutes later.
In between, Belarus'Vladimir Korytko had a shot parried wide by Maarten Stekelenburg and Alexander Hleb shot wide from 12 yards, but it was Holland creating, if not finishing, most the chances.
Babel had another throw of the dice in the 26th minute, but his effort was blocked by Igor Filipenko, while Van der Vaart and Wilfred Bouma tried their luck from distance.
Maxim Romashchenko rounded off the half with a fruitless effort from 25 yards for Belarus, but it was not until after the break that they made their mark.
Bulyga did the damage, collecting a Korytko through-ball, and sliding his low shot into the centre of the goal from 12 yards.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst blazed over as Holland chased an immediate response and Van der Vaart forced Yuri Zhevnov to parry an angled drive, but it was Belarus who struck the next meaningful blow.
Aleksei Skverniuk had sounded the warning bell in the 62nd minute with a 35-yard piledriver and the lead was doubled two minutes later, Korytko curling his finish into the net from the edge of the area after a Bulyga pass.
Koevermans and Van der Vaart then took turns to waste half-chances, but by the time Van der Vaart finally succeeded, with a neat chip over the advancing keeper moments after Babel hit the bar, the game was already lost.
Ryan Babel hit the bar as Holland chased a way back in, but even when Rafael van der Vaart did succeed with a superb finish one minute from time, the game was lost.
The result, Belarus' second straight win, sees them climb two places to fourth in the final standings, while Holland, who had already qualified, complete the campaign in second place with 26 points.
Coming into the clash, Holland coach Marco van Basten had been on the receiving end of some stinging criticism for his side's inability to find the net and to judge from the first half it was not hard to see why.
Danny Koevermans emphasised the point with a shot that went woefully wide in the fourth minute and Babel underlined it with a drive that soared high over the bar 12 minutes later.
In between, Belarus'Vladimir Korytko had a shot parried wide by Maarten Stekelenburg and Alexander Hleb shot wide from 12 yards, but it was Holland creating, if not finishing, most the chances.
Babel had another throw of the dice in the 26th minute, but his effort was blocked by Igor Filipenko, while Van der Vaart and Wilfred Bouma tried their luck from distance.
Maxim Romashchenko rounded off the half with a fruitless effort from 25 yards for Belarus, but it was not until after the break that they made their mark.
Bulyga did the damage, collecting a Korytko through-ball, and sliding his low shot into the centre of the goal from 12 yards.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst blazed over as Holland chased an immediate response and Van der Vaart forced Yuri Zhevnov to parry an angled drive, but it was Belarus who struck the next meaningful blow.
Aleksei Skverniuk had sounded the warning bell in the 62nd minute with a 35-yard piledriver and the lead was doubled two minutes later, Korytko curling his finish into the net from the edge of the area after a Bulyga pass.
Koevermans and Van der Vaart then took turns to waste half-chances, but by the time Van der Vaart finally succeeded, with a neat chip over the advancing keeper moments after Babel hit the bar, the game was already lost.
Copyright (c) Press Association
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