Dutch scoring drought continues in Paraguay draw

Amsterdam: Netherlands were held 0-0 by Paraguay in a friendly on Wednesday, their third successive game without a goal.

Without the creativity of the injured Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie, the Dutch hardly created any danger despite dominating the match against the South Americans who, like them, have qualified for next year`s World Cup. Netherlands, who have not conceded in their last five matches including Saturday`s 0-0 draw with world champions Italy, were well organised in defence. They had goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg to thank in the second half when he made a fine save from Oscar Cardozo`s deflected free kick. "It was a poor match and not satisfying but you have to consider that against strong opponents like Italy and Paraguay we hardly gave away anything," Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk told reporters. "We simply didn`t create enough danger in front of their goal because our midfield didn`t close up enough. We have scoring power but in recent days we lost some through injuries."Bureau Report