Captain Edwin van der Sar was disappointed the Dutch failed to clinch top spot in World Cup Group C last night.

"I'm not really satisfied. We wanted to win the group but I think Argentina made it quite difficult for us," the goalkeeper told reporters.

"In the second half we came into the game a bit more and had some half chances. I'm happy I kept a clean sheet and played my 112th match for Holland and equalled the record."

Van der Sar matched Frank de Boer's record of Dutch appearances.

The Dutch play Portugal in the second round while Argentina face Mexico.

"We tried everything but we couldn't take any risks with players on yellow cards. In this tournament with referees you never know what you're going to get," Van der Sar added.

Argentina defender Roberto Ayala was in positive mood. "The aim has been achieved. The team is growing game by game," he said.

"It made no difference (whether we play Mexico or Portugal). They are both rivals to be much respected."

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.