Netherlands coach Marco van Basten had few words of praise for his team after they beat Ivory Coast 2-1 to book a place in the last 16 at the World Cup finals.

A fine Robin van Persie free-kick and a Ruud van Nistelrooy goal before the half-hour mark put the Oranje in control.

However, Bakary Kone's stunning solo goal shortly before half-time gave the Elephants hope, and the Netherlands were under pressure for much of the second half.

They held out to secure a place in the first knockout stage, but Van Basten wants to see an improved performance from his players in their final Group C game against Argentina.

"We started very well in the first half, after that it became difficult. In the second half we could only defend ourselves," said the coach.

"We'll take it step by step, we'll see how it goes against Argentina."

Goalscorer Van Persie was far more positive about the game.

"We worked hard. We played well at times, we should be proud that we reached the next round," said the Arsenal youngster. "My goal was fantastic for us all."

Ivory Coast coach Henri Michel took no solace from his side's determined display and admitted they lacked the ruthlessness needed to compete with the world's best teams.

"Everyone tells me the team is wonderful but that's not enough," he insisted.

"Ivory Coast are not at the level of the top teams. We needed too many opportunities to score and you cannot have that at World Cup level."