Forward Gerald Sibon duly slammed in a penalty in the second half to send the Netherlands into the quarterfinals of the Olympic men's soccer on Wednesday.

The Dutch was awarded the penalty in the 73rd minute, after Liverpool's Ryan Babel was hauled down at the edge of the area by Japanese midfielder Keisuke Honda.

In the other match in the pool, Nigeria beat the United States 2-1, joining hands with the Netherlands to reach the knockout stage.

The Dutch lineup also include veteran striker Roy Makaay and Valencia's Hedwiges Maduro. But the star-studded squad lacked the prowess or luck to score.

"We have a number of good players but till now we don't have a real good team," said Dutch coach Foppe De Haan. "So we need a victory like this because that gives you some feeling that we are back."

"We know Japan could be a tough opponent because they have nothing to lose as they are already out of the tournament," said Makaay.

"I'm disappointed with the three losses, but we did see we were good at attacking and combinations," coach Sorimachi Yasuharu told a post-game press conference

In the first half, Ryan Babel nearly presented an own goal to consolate the Japanese which have already been eliminated after two group stage losses.

In the 36th minute, midfielder Urby Emanuelson curled a corner from the left to the front of the goal. The ball rebounded from Babel towards the goal, forcing Kenneth Vermeer to make an accurate save.

One minute before break, Dutch forward Gerald Sibon launched a superb bicycle kick inside the area, but could only find the side netting.

Right into the second half, the Dutch had two direct free kicks hitting the crossbar and the left post respectively.

The Netherlands relaxed after Sibon's penalty and could have doubled their lead in the 86th minute when Roy Makaay's volley forced a fine save from Nishikawa.

The Japanese also lacked the final touch as in the 55th minute, a strengthful shot from outside the box by forward Yohei Toyoda was saved by Dutch goalie Kenneth Vermeer, and a Masato Morishige's shot four minutes later was thwarted by the bar.

"Through the three games we played, we can see that our players were too emotional in the box," said Sorimachi. "There are too many young players in the team, we need a key player with more experience. There is also a difference in physical abilities."

The Netherlands had two draws with the United States and Nigeria and advanced to the next round as the second-ranking team. They will probably take on defending champions Argentina in Shanghai before they can meet the final rivals in Beijing.

"I think every team wants to end in Beijing and that's our goal as well," said Makaay.

(Xinhua News Agency August 13, 2008)