Portugal .vs. Holland

This game was a must win for both teams, if Holland win by two clear goals and Germany beat Denmark they would go through and if Portugal get a point and Germany beat or draw with Denmark they would go through, so we all knew this group would end with a bang.

Holland posted a very attacking side with Sneijder, Van Der Vaart, Huntelaar, Robben and Van Persie to try and crack the Portuguese defence and on eleven minutes it paid off with Robben cutting inside from the right and laying off the ball to Van Der Vaart who curled a beautiful effort with his left foot past Rui Patricio in the Portuguese goal to give Holland a chance of qualifying for the last eight. Portugal kept the pressure on to ensure a last eight appearance and seventeen minutes later Ronaldo broke his Euro 2012 curse by equalising from a fantastic through ball into the right hand side of the box and in true Ronaldo style he made a very difficult situation look easy by slotting the ball past Stekelenburg at his near post to make it 1-1.

HT – Portugal 1-1 Holland

Van Der Vaart captaining his side in the absense of Van Bommel.

The second half brought a change in formation for Holland which saw Robben switch from the right side to the left in an attempt to get more balls into the box. The opening exchanges in the second half were mainly attacking from Holland which with more confidence from Van Persie could have resulted in a crucial goal. On fifty-nine minutes a cross field ball was played into the Holland penalty area, headed down to Ronaldo who hit it firmly with his left foot which fell to Postiga who poked the ball home before realising he was a yard offside. A Portugal break on sixty-five minutes which produced a fantastic save from Stekelenburg showed Holland that Portugal meant business. Portugal continued to press as a ball from Ronaldo across the six yard box came to Nani who was stopped by a brilliant save again by Stekelenburg who should have been picking it out of the net, a minute after that Nani started a run down the right hand side who picked out Ronaldo on the left who cut inside and stroked the ball home to give Portugal the lead for the first time in this match. Van Der Vaart chanced his arm again cutting inside from the left and curling the ball against the inside of the right post with his right foot on eighty-two minutes, and that’s how the game finished with Portugal on a high going into a last eight match against The Czech Republic and Holland going back home without a win.

FT – Portugal 2-1 Holland

Ronaldo fighting off Van Persie and Sneijder.

Man of The Match – Man of the match for me had to be Cristiano Ronaldo scoring both goals to confirm Portugal going through from the group stages and making surging runs all night to help create chances and his blinding skill just could not be matched in this game.