Eljaro Elia scored the winning goal after coming on as a substitute

Netherlands assistant boss Frank de Boer thinks his side are capable of building on their 1-0 defeat of Scotland and winning the World Cup.

Asked if the Dutch can go on and win the World Cup, he said: "That is very far away. If we can keep up this form and mentality, we can beat anybody."

De Boer was delighted his side finished Group Nine with a 100% record.

"That was our goal, of course," said the ex-Rangers man. "We achieved that, so we are very proud of the boys."

The victory ended Scotland's hopes of finishing second in Group Nine and making the play-offs for a place in South Africa next summer.

And Netherlands captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst had sympathy for the Scots, having himself previously played for Rangers.

"I have great memories here," he said. "It is a great country with great people, so it was a game with mixed emotions.

We had won seven games already and wanted to make a little history Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk

"I wanted to win for my country. But, if there was any team I would have wanted to join us at the World Cup, it was Scotland."

Van Bronckhorst paid tribute to substitute Eljero Elia for scoring the Netherlands' late winner.

"He changed the game when he came on against Japan on Saturday and he did the same again," he said of the Hamburg winger.

"He is a big talent and has come on immensely in the last year."

Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk thought his side had merited the victory, despite the Scots having struck his side's bar and having missed several good chances.

"I think we deserved the three points, especially for the way we played in the second half," he said.

"I said at half-time we had to have patience and take more risks. In the first half we were a little sloppy. It's not easy to come here in this ambience against a country fighting for their last chance.

"But we want to win everywhere and we wanted to win this game. We had won seven games already and wanted to make a little history."

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