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By Julian Linden
HONG KONG, July 30 (Reuters) - Ryan Babel and Roy Makaay scored late goals to give the Netherlands a 2-0 victory over Cameroon in a pre-Olympic soccer tournament at Hong Kong's national stadium on Wednesday.
Babel, who came on as a substitute at halftime and turned the match around, broke the deadlock in the 87th minute when he calmly slotted the ball into the net after Makaay set him up.
He then returned the favour for his skipper to seal the win with a ferocious strike in stoppage time.
"Babel and Makaay can be a very good couple," Dutch coach Foppe de Haan told a news conference.
"Makaay is a real hunter, a real killer and Babel is really dangerous when he gets space. When you get two players like that, it's like having three."
Cameroon, who won the Olympic gold medal at Sydney in 2000, created plenty of chances but lost their way in the last 10 minutes when coach Martin Mpile cleared the bench to save his other players from wilting in the heat and humidity.
"It wasn't the tiredness that killed us, it was the changes. The players who came on at the end were not tactically ready," said Mpile, speaking through a translator.
"But apart from that it was a good game. We played well for 80 minutes. It will give us a lot of confidence."
The result lifted the Dutch to the top of the competition standings with five points, three for the win and one bonus point for each of their two goals.
They are four clear of Ivory Coast and the United States, who played out a scoreless draw in the first match at the same ground two hours earlier.
De Haan said it also vindicated Babel's decision to make himself available for the Olympics despite reservations from his English club Liverpool after the winger suffered an injury-stricken season.
"Babel is a good guy, and he's a grown up. He knows what he wants," de Haan said.
"Liverpool were pressing him not to go but he made up his own mind and when a young man does that, you should shake his hand. "I'm sure that when he goes back to Liverpool, he'll go back a better player."
Ivory Coast had the better chances in their match against the United States but could not find a way past American goalkeeper Marvell Wynne, who made a series of impressive saves.
"It was a good match for us, apart from missing a few goals," Ivory Coast coach Gerard Gili said, also speaking through a translator.
"The team is getting better and better with each match and that is the most important thing."
U.S. coach Peter Nowak made five substitutions at halftime to give as many players as possible a chance to experience the conditions and said he was also satisfied with the performance.
"These games are just tune-ups for the Olympics...they are a way for us to find out what we need to work on," he said.
"Defensively we're looking very good...but we need to work on our offence to make sure we get the full package."
The Americans plays Cameroon in Saturday's second and final round while the Netherlands face Ivory Coast. All four countries have qualified for the Beijing Olympics.
