Simon Poulsen' s header turned out to be a nightmare of the Danish squad which suffered a 2-0 bitter defeat in a World Cup Group E match against the Netherlands on Monday.

Just one minute after the interval, Dutch midfielder Robin Van Persie' s deep cross was headed away by Simon Poulsen, but the luck did not lie on the Danish side as the ball deflected off Daniel Agger's back and slipped out of the reach of veteran goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen for an own goal.

It broke the deadlock in the Soccer City after the first half during which the Danish Dynamite took counter-attack with tight defense as their weapons. Danish boss Morten Olsen finally chose forward Nicklas Bendtner to bolster their starting line-up.

The Arsenal striker had his good chance in the 27th minute when Daniel Agger's wonderful long pass released Dennis Rommedahl down the right and his cross found Bendtner at the back post, but Bendtner got his header all wrong and the ball flew wide.

The Oranje' s morale was further boosted after the own goal and they controlled the tempo of the match with more dangerous attacks.

Sneijder proved his dominance in the attacking end at the 83th minute when a powerful shot from the Inter Milan midfielder hit the bar, making the sighs of Dutch fans echo in the gigantic stadium.

The Dutch warriors did not let their supporters wait long. Two minutes later, Hamburg SV forward Elijero Elia saw his shot from the left wing bounce back off the post, but Liverpool talented forward Dirk Kuyt did not waste the chance but tapped it home.

The victory enabled the Dutch side to have a run of 20 matches without defeat, their best ever performance. They were last beaten by Australia in September 2008 and had since recorded 14 wins and five draws before the group match.

This was the first meeting of the two teams at the FIFA World Cup, although the squads have encountered for 28 times before the match. The Oranje had the edge with 11 victories to seven.

That paved a way for the Dutch side to breeze through into the knockout stage from Group E which also includes Japan and Cameroon. The latter pair would have their group match in Bloemfontein later on Monday.