 | Team News |  | Player Profiles | | Fixtures | | Betting | | Mobile |  |
Netherlands News
Latest News / Squad / Team Profile / Player Profiles / Betting / Results
England face easy tie v Portugal
26/06/2006: Maniche's goal gave Portugal a 1-0 win over Holland to earn them a quarter-final clash with England in World Cup 2006 as both sides ended the game with nine men.
A lively first half, in which the Chelsea player put his side ahead midway through, was tarnished right at the end when Costinha was dismissed for two yellow cards.
However football took a back seat after the break as Russian referee Valentin Ivanov sent off Deco for Portugal, while Dutch duo Khalid Boulahrouz and Giovanni Van Bronckhorst also went as the official equalled the current record of 16 bookings and set a new tally of four dismissals in the same game.
Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari will no doubt take compensation from the fact his side now meet England in Gelsenkirchen this Saturday. The Brazilian-born coach will be going for a hat-trick of last-eight wins over Sven-Goran Eriksson's men after his Brazil side knocked them out of the 2002 World Cup and the Portuguese won on penalties at the same stage in Euro 2004.
The game started brightly as Mark van Bommel had the first shot on goal after only two minutes following good build up work down the right by Arjen Robben and Dirk Kuyt, but his shot was narrowly wide of Ricardo's upright.
On 14 minutes Arsenal's Robin Van Persie then burst through the centre of the field and tried his luck from just outside of the area which was also narrowly wide of the mark.
However Portugal hit back to take the lead nine minutes later as Deco's ball in from the right was laid back to Maniche by Pedro Pauleta and the Chelsea player fired past Edwin van der Sar from just inside the penalty area.
On 37 minutes Van Persie did magnificently well as he dragged the Portuguese defence all over the place inside the area before toe-poking a shot which went right across the face of Ricardo's goal.
The majority of drama came in the final moments of the half as Pauleta swiveled in the area to get a shot in from three yards out which Van der Sar brilliantly saved with his legs.
Within seconds Portugal were down to 10 men when Costinha, who had been booked earlier in the game, stupidly handled the ball just inside his own half and the referee had no hesitation but to issue a second yellow and subsequent red card.
Holland started the second half well and should have been level four minutes in as Kuyt's ball in from the left was missed by Van Bommel's attempted overhead kick. However Phillip Cocu picked up the loose ball in the area but smashed his effort off the crossbar.
Van Bommel then tried his luck from the edge of the area which Ricardo did not deal with well but managed to divert the ball out for a corner.
On 57 minutes Luis Figo set up Maniche but this time Van der Sar reacted well to save his effort which was heading for the far corner of the net.
The game then turned into a joke on 62 minutes as Holland were reduced to 10 men when Boulahrouz was harshly sent off for a second booking as Figo charged into the back of him before falling to the turf as if he had been struck by an elbow.
Six more bookings followed in a five-minute spell which ended on 78 minutes with Barcelona star Deco receiving his marching orders for perceived time-wasting to leave Portugal down to nine men.
The final 10 minutes failed to flow as Portugal did all they could to run down the clock as Kuyt's effort from the edge of the area, which Ricardo saved at the second attempt, was all they had to show for their efforts in the best game so far in World Cup 2006.
There was still enough time in the six minutes of injury time for the referee to even up the numbers of players on the field when he handed Van Bronckhorst a second booking for a foul on Tiago.
World Cup Mobile
 Real Tones | ||
| 1 | Spider Pig Song  |  |
| 2 | Snuggle Bunny Song | |
| 3 | Peter Laughing | |
| Polyphonic | ||
| 4 | The Great Escape | |
| 5 | Mission Impossible | |
| 6 | James Bond | |
| 7 | Exorcist Theme (Tubular Bells) | |
| 8 | Benny Hill | |
| Sound Effects | ||
| 9 | Mosquito | |
| Backgrounds | ||
| 10 | Euro 2008 | |
| Animations | ||
| 11 | Euro 2008 | |
| Games | ||
| 12 | FIFA World Cup(TM) | |
| 13 | Soccer Pinball | |
| 14 | UEFA EURO 2008 | |
Comments on: England face easy tie v Portugal
Write your own comment:Latest Netherlands News
Van Basten ahead of the game (10/06/2006)
Cocu hails Dutch defence (12/06/2006)
Van Persies blasts Robben (13/06/2006)
Van Basten confident of Ruud ability (14/06/2006)
Holland v Ivory Coast (16/06/2006)