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By Rebecca Stephenson

Robin van Persie and Ibrahim Afellay both scored twice as Northern Ireland were hit for six in Amsterdam.

 Robin Van Persie nets two as Dutch prepare for Euros

Wesley Sneijder and Feyenoord defender Ron Vlaar also netted for the Dutch, as they finished their preparations for Euro 2012 in style against an inexperienced Northern Ireland side that included three debutants.
Bert van Marwijk’s side were 3-0 up inside half an hour in a party atmosphere at the Amsterdam Arena as the Oranje fans gave their side a great send-off, and as the score reached 4-0 by half-time it looked as though records could be set to tumble.
But Holland took their foot off the pedal in the second half, and despite stroking the ball around with ease, only added a further two goals to their tally.
Opened
The gulf in class was mirrored across the pitch, with Holland’s side packed with household names while their opponents kicked off with just three players boasting more than 10 caps.
In the fifth minute, Northern Ireland produced a strong counter-attack as Andrew Little raced into space on the right before winning a corner.
It was by some distance their best move of the night.
Sneijder unsuccessfully tried his luck from 20 yards in the seventh minute and Van Persie’s shot was cleared after debutant James McPake barged Arjen Robben over just outside the area.
The inevitable opener arrived in the 11th minute, Mark van Bommel and Sneijder linking up at a corner before the latter curled a ball to the far post.
Van Persie was waiting and headed home unmarked.
Four minutes later it was 2-0, Michael Duff felling Van Bommel in an inviting position 25 yards out.
Sneijder commandeered the free-kick and duly curled it past the despairing Lee Camp.
Despite captain for the night Sammy Clingan desperately attempting to sweep up in front of the back four, Sneijder was controlling things for Holland in the final third.
With 27 minutes gone he dribbled the ball to within six yards of the Northern Ireland goal only to lose control at the last moment.
A minute later Holland had their third after the referee awarded a penalty for handball against Shane Ferguson, who was attempting to smother Van Persie’s chip over the top.
The Arsenal striker sent Camp the wrong way with a clean strike into the right-hand corner.
The Oranje were in clinical mood and bagged a fourth after 36 minutes when Clingan gifted possession to the alert Robben.
He fed Van Persie, who touched the ball on to Affelay on the overlap. The Barcelona forward hit a low shot across Camp, who got a hand to it but could not push it wide of his far post.
O’Neill made three changes at the interval, with Roy Carroll coming on for his first appearance in goal for six years. Ryan McGivern and Josh Carson were also sent on in place of Daniel Lafferty and Grant McCann.
Carroll had been on the field just six minutes when he was picking the ball out of the net.
Sneijder’s cross-field pass picked out Robben on the right wing and he rolled the ball to Van Persie. He took one touch, laying off for Afellay whose placed effort nestled in the corner.
Holland went to their bench after 56 minutes, with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Rafael van der Vaart the high-class replacements for Van Persie and Van Bommel.
Nervy moments
Further changes followed for Northern Ireland, with O’Neill sending for Niall McGinn and Rory McArdle.
Carroll had a couple of nervy moments but got away with a mix-up with McPake and a drop at the feet of Robben.
McGivern struck a low shot wide for in a rare break for the visitors, who benefited slightly from the momentum-breaking effect of the second-half substitutions.
Van der Vaart hit the post with 15 minutes to go but the sixth goal was not long coming, Vlaar nodding home Afellay’s corner from six yards.
John Heitinga spurned a point-blank chance to add a seventh in injury-time, a rare slice of luck for O’Neill’s men on a chastening evening.
Netherlands travel to Poland on Monday and start their Euro campaign next Saturday against Denmark

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