© EuroFootball.com
Hosts of the European Championship, Portugal, defeated the Netherlands national team in the semi-final held at the Jose Alvalade stadium, securing a place in the final for the first time in their country's football history. The next finalist will be determined tomorrow in the match between the teams of Greece and Czech Republic.
Portugal - Netherlands 2 - 1 26' [1 - 0] 58' [2 - 0] 63' own goal [2 - 1]
Statistics Portugal and Netherlands Shots: 12 and 7 Shots on target: 7 (58%) and 1 (14%) Passes: 398 and 477 Successful passes: 284 and 338 Corners: 9 and 2 Fouls: 22 and 20 Offsides: 5 and 3 Yellow cards: 3 and 2 Ball possession: 47% and 53% Tackles won: 39 and 35
Both teams started cautiously in the first half, observing each other. In the tenth minute, Portugal created the first dangerous opportunity to score, but after a dangerous cross from Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo failed to reach the ball, and Dutch defender J.Stamas redirected the ball into a corner.
As the first half progressed, Portuguese players attacked the Dutch goal more and more. In the 26th minute, Cristiano Ronaldo scored a header goal after one of many corners near the Dutch goal. The Dutch did not give up, and shortly after, on the other side of the field, Dutch defender M. Overmars had a chance to score, but his shot from 7 meters missed the target.
In the 35th minute, Portuguese forward Pauleta could have doubled the score, but his shot was saved by Dutch goalkeeper E. Van Der Sar. In the 39th minute, the Dutch managed to score a goal, but before the shot, the referee's flag was raised - signaling an offside on Dutch forward Van Nistelrooy. Two minutes later, L. Figo received the ball on the left side, tricked the defender, and shot towards the goal, but the ball hit the post.
After losing the first half, the Dutch strengthened their attack after the break. R. Makay appeared on the field instead of M. Overmars. In the 54th minute, Pauleta missed another great chance to double the lead, shooting directly at the goalkeeper from a good position.
Two minutes later, the Dutch coach intensified the attack further. R. Van der Vaart came on for W. Bouma. Two minutes later, the second goal was scored. After a quickly taken corner, Maniche's strong shot from the edge hit the far post and flew into the goal, leaving no chance for the goalkeeper.
After conceding the second goal, the Dutch immediately took control. In the 63rd minute, after G. Van Bronckhorst's pass from the side, Jorge Andrade tried to clear the ball from the penalty area, but did so very poorly and directed it into his own goal. The result became 2-1 in favor of Portugal.
After scoring, the Dutch players continued to press Portugal towards their goal. Portuguese coach F. Scolari strengthened his team's defense: Petit replaced Ronaldo on the field, and Maniche, who scored the second goal, was replaced by F. Couto. The Dutch failed to create anything dangerous, and in their attacking attempts, they forgot about the safety of their goal, and almost conceded a third goal, but Deco missed a great opportunity one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
