Joris Mathijsen opened the scoring after 14 minutes and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar sealed the points five minutes after the hour mark.

It was also a satisfactory evening for Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, who kept a clean sheet on his return to the side and was rarely tested.

Van der Sar answered an emergency call from Holland coach Bert van Marwijk to come out of international retirement because of an injury to number one Maarten Stekelenburg.

And he was not the only one on the sidelines, Robin Van Persie, Arjen Robben, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Khalid Boulahrouz, Wilfred Bouma and John Heitinga also ruled out by injury.

That list got even longer when Hamburg midfielder Nigel de Jong was forced off the field after 14 minutes.

But it made little difference as Holland took the lead a minute later.

Rafael van der Vaart, a summer signing for Real Madrid, crossed and Hamburg defender Mathijsen duly converted.

And Huntelaar forward made it two 20 minutes after the break, latching onto a pass from Van der Vaart to score with an angled strike.

The win established a two-point lead at the top of the group, despite the Dutch having played one game fewer than Scotland, who are second after a goalless draw with Norway.

Chris Iwelumo marked his international debut with the worst miss of his career, after coming off the bench in a bid to salvage the hosts' hopes at Hampden.

Instead he will be forever haunted by the moment he blew Scotland's hopes of a vital victory.

With both sides regarded as the strongest challengers for the coveted runners-up spot behind Holland, this was regarded as a high-stakes game.

But neither side could find a winner, even when Iwelumo was presented with a glorious chance.

Gary Naysmith was the provider with a superb ball across the face of goal and Wolves striker Iwelumo somehow missed the target from a few yards with the gaping net at his mercy.