FRANKFURT, Germany - In his debut as a World Cup starter, Lionel Messi did everything but give Argentina victory.

Argentina's Roberto Ayala, left, and teammate Javier Mascherano, right, defend against Netherlands' Ryan Babel during the World Cup Group C soccer match between the Netherlands and Argentina in the World Cup stadium in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, June 21, 2006. Other teams in Group C are Ivory Coast and Serbia and Montenegro.[AP]

It didn't matter. In a 0-0 draw with the Netherlands on Wednesday, the Argentines confirmed their role as title contenders and easily earned a second-round match against Mexico.

Fielding four second-string players, Argentina showed its depth. The Dutch were less impressive as they head to a meeting with Portugal on Sunday in Nuremberg.

As Group C winner, Argentina now has a Latin American duel in Leipzig on Saturday.

"The only thing we lacked were goals," forward Carlos Tevez said. "We did everything right and for some reason we were unable to score."

As soon as the 18-year-old Messi got going, there was little doubt who was running the show for Argentina. During the 69 minutes he played, he set up chances for teammates, tested the inexperienced Dutch defense himself, and showed skills precious few players possess.

Even fewer at such a tender age.

When Messi was substituted, Diego Maradona led the warm applause from the stands.

All that time, Dutch winger Arjen Robben, the team's star in its first two games, was on the bench, saving his strength for the second round. The Dutch sat five starters for the game, the Argentines four as both teams were already sure to advance.

In his Dutch record-equaling 112th international, Edwin van der Sar produced the save of the match, a one-handed dive to swipe out a 20-yard drive from Tevez in the 74th minute.

Overall though, the meeting of the 1978 finalists rarely produced the intensity everyone hoped for. It made Messi's performance all the more exciting.

Given space and time, the prodigy was a joy to watch for the sellout crowd of 48,000. He had been injured in the closing stages of his European club season for FC Barcelona, and he showed an eagerness to make up for lost time.

In the 10th minute, he spotted a run by Esteban Cambiasso and sent the midfielder through the heart of the Dutch defense, forcing defender Khalid Boulahrouz into a goal-saving tackle.

In the 33rd minute, he set up Maxi Rodriguez on the right side, but his shot went into the side netting.

Just ahead of the halftime whistle, he took on the whole Dutch defense, and Messi's 20-yard shot whistled just wide past goalie Van der Sar.

In the stands, Maradona was encouraging the new star of the Albiceleste toward goal, and thousands of Argentine fans were singing "Ole, Ole, Ole, Ola, Argentina cada dia te quiero mas." ("Argentina, I love you more every day.")

For the first time at the World Cup, even the Dutch fans were thoroughly outperformed.

"We had our hands full," coach Marco Van Basten said. "We played against one of the top teams in the world, and we survived. We kept them from scoring."

On set pieces, Argentina still is led Juan Riquelme and, even there, Messi had his impact.

Once Riquelme realized the Dutch were just too tall for crosses, he sent a low pass into the box, and Messi pressured so well that Boulahrouz pushed the ball onto his own goalpost.

In reply, the Dutch could do little. Their best chance came when defender Nicolas Burdisso gave the ball away to Dirk Kuyt and the forward failed to pick out the open Rafael van der Vaart in the middle. Kuyt fired straight at goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri from too tight an angle.

Perhaps the only weakness of Argentina was evident very late in the game. Suddenly, the Dutch started outrunning the South Americans and, for the only time in the game, pressured the defense.