AL RAYYAN, Qatar – It was totally quick, totally slick, and quite simply, Total Football.

A special team goal helped the Netherlands become the first nation at the World Cup in Qatar to book a berth in the quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over the United States on Saturday.

It started with centre-back Virgil van Dijk knocking the ball back to goalkeeper Andries Knoppert, and 19 passes later, ended with Denzel Dumfries drilling a low cross into the American penalty box for Memphis Depay to stroke home.

It was a sequence that would have made the late Johan Cruyff, the star of the famous Dutch and Ajax Amsterdam teams of the 1970s which championed the system, smile.

But while they may have displayed shades of Total Football, Louis van Gaal’s team of 2022 were not quite in total control throughout the game.

The first big chance fell to American forward Christian Pulisic, who snuck in behind a slow Dutch defence with barely three minutes on the clock, only for his shot to be smothered by Noppert.

Depay would punish that miss seven minutes later with what was his 15th goal in his last 17 appearances for his nation.

In front, van Gaal’s men were then content to sit back and allow the Americans to have most of the ball, and near the end of the first half, the US had twice the amount of possession they did.

But just before half-time, the three-time World Cup runners-up (1974, 1978 and 2010) struck again.

Dumfries, the right wing-back, was once again the creator, this time for his counterpart on the opposite flank Daley Blind. They produced an almost carbon copy finish of Depay’s goal. The link-up between defenders in the opposition third was another hallmark of the Total Football system.

Even with a two-goal cushion, the Dutch did not look completely comfortable.

Early in the second half, American defender Tim Ream nearly pulled one back but his chance off a corner kick was cleared off the line by Cody Gakpo, who had a quiet night by the lofty standards he had set in the group stage, where he scored in each of the Netherlands’ three matches.

Complacency appeared to creep into their game and in the 75th minute, Depay’s slack back pass for Noppert was intercepted by substitute Haji Wright, who rounded the ‘keeper and sent a goal-bound shot only to see the ball hacked off the line by the recovering Dumfries.

A minute later, Wright found the net when Pulisic’s low cross clipped his heel and looped fortuitously into goal.

But Man of the Match Dumfries calmed nerves in the 81st when Blind returned the favour, sending a deep cross for the former to volley a shot home at the back post. That restored his side’s two-goal lead, and ensured that they would progress to the final eight, where they will play Argentina or Australia on Friday.

US coach Gregg Berhalter said after the match: “I’m proud of this group for the way they handled themselves both on and off the field. We set out with a goal to show the world how we can play soccer and I think we partially achieved that. But we fell short of our goals.

“They (the Dutch) were clinical with the opportunities they got in the first half, but other than that, there wasn’t a ton separating the two teams. We pushed them but in the end, they got the win.”

His opposite number van Gaal revealed that he was “critical” of his team at half-time, taking particular issue with their ability to keep the ball, which he felt improved after the break.

“Nonetheless, we were all very, very pleased (with the win) and it just gives us incredible confidence... Tomorrow we’re going evaluate the match, then we will roll up our sleeves and get to work again,” he said.

Van Gaal is right to not let his guard down. The Dutch have had a relatively unchallenging run up to this point, and will face significantly tougher tests ahead.

If they want to change their unenviable status of “always the bridesmaid, never the bride”, they will need to imbue their moments of free-flowing Total Football with more focus, pragmatism and steel than they have shown thus far.