AP

Italy was once the land of defenders. Those were the days.

With Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy tearing through the Azzurri defense at will in the Netherlands’ stunning 3-0 win Monday, Italy fans were pining for the good times — just two years ago — when the Italians allowed only one goal in the run of play and won the World Cup. This was Italy’s most lopsided loss in the history of the European Championship.

With injured captain Fabio Cannavaro sitting on the bench next to his crutches, defenders Marco Materazzi and Andrea Barzagli were picked apart by the Dutch attack. Cannavaro underwent surgery after injuring his ankle in the Azzurri’s opening training session at the tournament.

Combined with Alessandro Nesta’s and Paolo Maldini’s retirements from international play, Italy’s defense is weaker than at anytime in recent memory.

“It’s real tough to play without your captain. We missed him a great deal, but we’re going to have to do better,” Fabio Grosso said.

The Dutch can’t do much better — they were brilliant all game.

“It was a historic feat. This was Italy, the world champion,” Netherlands coach Marco van Basten said. “I cannot name one player who played poorly.”

That’s because none did.

Van Nistelrooy and Wesley Sneijder scored in the first half, and standout defender Giovanni van Bronckhorst added the third on a counterattack in the 79th minute at Bern, Switzerland.

“This leaves us incredibly proud and with a great feeling,” Sneijder said. “The first time is always incredibly important and to do this against Italy… it gives us a lot of confidence. But we have to realize that it is not in the bag yet.”

But it puts the Dutch in great position in Group C, where France and Romania played to a listless 0-0 draw earlier Monday.

Van Nistelrooy’s breakthrough goal was claimed to be offside by Italy, but the striker deflected a 20-yard shot from Van Bronckhorst past Gianluigi Buffon with an Italy defender off the field next to the goal.

The second goal was a perfect counterattack. Van Bronckhorst kicked a ball off his own goal line and immediately rushed up the left, where he took a long pass from Rafael van der Vaart. The Italians were woefully out of position when Van Bronckhorst sent a defense-splitting pass to Dirk Kuyt on the right.

Kuyt, starting because of a groin injury to Arjen Robben, headed it perfectly into the path of Sneijder and the midfielder volleyed it past Buffon.

Edwin van der Sar, the 37-year-old Netherlands goalkeeper, produced a stunning save on Andrea Pirlo’s free kick to prevent Italy from getting back in the game in the 78th. Moments later, Van Bronckhorst made it 3-0 off a scramble in the Italy area.

The Italian fans displayed signs saying, “Spremuta d’Orange” — freshly squeezed orange juice — but it was a Dutch squeezing that left the Azzurri blue.

“Holland won deservedly,” Buffon said. “In the name of the entire team, I think I have to apologize to all the Italian fans, who, like us, certainly did not expect a result like this.”