Ruud van Nistelrooy has labelled his World Cup winner against the Ivory Coast as the biggest goal he has scored in his entire career.

The Manchester United striker's predatory first-half effort helped seal a 2-1 win over the Ivory Coast which takes Holland into the knock-out phase with a game to spare.

Prolific in both the Champions League and Premiership since he arrived at United in 1991 - and one of only eight players to have scored 150 goals for the club - van Nistelrooy has no doubts his latest effort eclipsed them all.

"It is the biggest goal I have ever scored, no doubt about it," said the 29-year-old.

"I have scored a lot of goals in my career but this one is definitely the best.

"You watch the World Cup as a boy and to be part of it is just amazing. This is my first tournament and to score just makes it extra special."

The Dutch were glad of van Nistelrooy's clinical finish too, even though at the time, it looked to be paving the way for a handsome win over the Africans.

Robin van Persie had already put Holland in front with a blistering free-kick but despite falling two behind, the Ivory Coast refused to buckle, pulled one back through Bakary Kone and then maintained the pressure to find an equaliser until the final whistle.

"The Ivory Coast can count themselves unlucky to come up against two very strong teams in ourselves and Argentina," said Arjen Robben, a surprise choice as man of the match.

"We were not very happy when we drew them, which says it all really.

"I certainly feel sorry for (Chelsea team-mate) Didier Drogba but at least he can have a good holiday now, which means he will be fully rested for the start of next season."

The Dutch squad have been given a night off to celebrate their win before starting preparations to face a rampant Argentina side van Nistelrooy believes have established themselves as favourites.

"They are the favourites for the match, in fact they are probably favourites for the tournament after what they have done so far," said van Nistelrooy.

"But it will be a good test for us and hopefully we can get another win."

Coach Marco van Basten admitted his side were "lucky".

"We got through this game with a lot of luck," said Van Basten.

"I think that we did a good job in the first half hour, after that it all became much more difficult.

"They put all their efforts in making goal chances and we lost the battle in midfield.

"After half-time we could not bring the style of play we wanted, but that had everything to do with the power of the Ivory Coast.

"They are man-by-man big players, certainly when they start playing with full speed and with many positional changes.

"But we can be satisfied that we had a good defensive team and we were hard to break.

"We have won two games and we can be happy about that."

Ivory Coast coach Henri Michel admitted it will now be difficult to lift his side for the 'dead rubber' clash with Serbia & Montenegro.

But he believes some harsh lessons are being learned by a side rated as the best to come out of Africa to Germany this summer.

"We knew it would be difficult and both games have followed a similar pattern," he said.

"We have fallen 2-0 behind which is tough enough against anyone but doubly difficult when you are playing Argentina and Holland.

"It is not enough for us just to say we are going to score goals. We have to find the right balance between defence and attack.

"Everyone tells me we have a wonderful team but the only conclusion I can draw from our performances here is that we are not yet at the level of the strongest teams in the world."