Van Basten complimented his troops after goals from Real Madrid duo Wesley Sneijder and Ruud Van Nistelrooy condemned the Bulgarians to defeat at the Amsterdam ArenA.

"We have set a good step on the way to Euro 2008," said Van Basten. "It was an important victory.

"Bulgaria is not an easy opponent. We had some difficulties, but we finished the match in a professional way."

The win sees the Dutch rise to second place in Group G, three points behind leaders Romania but with a game in hand.

"We must not forget that the results in this group are crucial - some people forget that way too easily," Van Basten added.

"Of course people can comment on our game play, but I think that we got a good result against Bulgaria."

Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar was also delighted with the workmanlike display.

"We did not start that strongly, but after that we took control of the match," he said. "We have played well and got no suspensions or injuries in this match."

The Dutch skipper went on to demand more of the same from his team-mates when they make the trip to Albania for their next qualifier on Wednesday.

"Against Albania we must first try to win again," Van der Sar said.

"If possible, I would like to see that we again play a good match, but in the past we have almost never had two good games in a row - that must change on Wednesday."