Edwin van der Sar will slip back into international retirement after his brief return to the Netherlands' ranks yielded back-to-back World Cup qualification victories.

The Manchester United goalkeeper answered a call from Bert van Marwijk, the Dutch coach, to return for the games against Iceland and Norway after his replacement, Maarten Stekelenburg, was ruled out through injury.

Van der Sar, who will be 38 later this month, kept a clean sheet in both games to help maintain the 100% record of the Dutch at the summit of Scotland's section. While Van der Sar, who had originally announced his retirement after the exit to Russia at Euro 2008, said he had been happy to return to the international fold, he confirmed the 1-0 win against Norway in Oslo would be his last.

"I'm happy with this farewell,"

he insisted. "I knew this would be the last time, so I wanted to finish on a better note than when we lost to Russia at Euro 2008. That has been achieved."

The keeper did admit his international career may not have ended on such a bright note after having revealed he was lucky not to give away a late penalty following a challenge in the area.

"The referee could have given Norway a penalty," he admitted. "I hit the Norwegian player with a knee."

As it was, Mark van Bommel's strike was enough to give the Dutch their third win in as many games in Group 9 and move them five points clear of Scotland and Iceland.