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Today begins the semifinals of the European Championship. At 21:45, at Lisbon's Jose Alvalade Stadium, the tournament hosts Portugal will face the Dutch national team. The referee for the match will be Swedish Anders Frisk.
These teams already have old scores to settle. The Netherlands will want to avenge the 2002 World Cup qualifying matches - back then, Portugal, along with Ireland, made it to the final tournament. However, history is on the side of the Portuguese, as they have not lost to the Dutch in six consecutive matches or thirteen years.
If Portugal scores a goal and wins, they will not only improve the record for most consecutive goal-scoring matches (it would be the tenth time), but also become the first host since 1984 to reach the final of this tournament. On the other hand, if the Netherlands win, this team would be the first to reach the final after winning only in the group stage. A victory for either side would also help forget the last championship, where both teams lost in the semifinals.
Both teams were among the favorites before Euro 2004, but they struggled to show it on the field. Portugal started with an unexpected loss to Greece, then defeated Russia and Spain, and in the quarterfinals, after a dramatic penalty shoot-out, beat England. The Netherlands played a draw in the "Group of Death" with Germany, later squandered a two-goal lead against the Czech Republic, crushed Latvia, and also won against Sweden after a penalty shoot-out.
Portugal's coach Luis Felipe Scolari must decide who to let play in attack. Nuno Gomes is nursing an injury, so the yet-to-impress Pauleta may return to the starting lineup. After serving his suspension, this forward could be the only change in the starting eleven that played against the English. Jorge Andrade has recovered from his injury and will play in central defense with Ricardo Carvalho. In the midfield line, there will be three "Porto" players - the holding midfielder as always will be Costinha, with Maniche and Deco playing slightly ahead. On the wings will be young Cristiano Ronaldo and team captain Luis Figo.
Before the game, Scolari warned the referee to watch out for the Dutch team's "dirty" tricks: "We must be careful in certain situations, especially with Michael Reiziger, who sometimes throws the ball in from the sideline with his foot on the field. The referee must be very attentive to such things. Also for Van Nistelrooy, who sometimes stands aside during penalties and takes advantage of that. We, like the referee, must be cautious. We must know everything about these minor things, to avoid any penalty shoot-outs."
The Dutch will be missing captain Frank de Boer, who suffered an injury in the previous matches. But his place should be successfully taken by Wilfred Bouma, who has already played in two games. Alongside Bouma in defense will be Jaap Stam, on the wings Michael Reiziger and Giovanni van Bronckhorst, in the midfield line will be Phillip Cocu, Edgar Davids, and Clarence Seedorf, in midfield Ruud van Nistelrooy, on the left wing Arjen Robben. The only dilemma for Dick Advocaat is the right-wing, as the coach is not very satisfied with what Andy van der Meyde has shown so far. In place of the latter, Marc Overmars should play, who has only appeared on the field as a substitute.
Predicted starting lineups: Portugal (4-5-1): Ricardo; Miguel, Jorge Andrade, Ricardo Carvalho, Nuno Valente; Costinha; Figo, Maniche, Deco, Ronaldo; Pauleta. Netherlands (4-3-3): Van der Sar; Reiziger, Stam, Bouma, Van Bronckhorst; Seedorf, Cocu, Davids; Overmars, Robben, Van Nistelrooy.
Statistics Comparison Portugal and the Netherlands Goals scored: 6 and 6 Goals conceded: 4 and 4 Assists: 4 and 5 Shots: 84 and 79 Shots on target: 28 (33%) and 41 (52%) Corners: 40 and 32 Offsides: 12 and 11 Passes: 2298 and 2190 Successful passes: 1783 (78%) and 1717 (78%) Fouls committed: 76 and 81 Fouls suffered: 92 and 70 Yellow cards: 9 and 8 Attempted tackles: 115 and 138 Balls lost: 234 and 149
