Sunday, 25th June
Twelve Players Booked and Four Sent Off
 Portugal vs  Holland
in Nürnberg
Previous Encounters:
If past history is anything to go on, Portugal will be feeling happy. In nine previous
encounters, Portugal have won five and drawn three.
Their last meeting was in Euro 2004; Portugal winning the semi-final
match, in Lisbon (2:1).
Portugal and Holland were in the same qualifying group for the 2002
World Cup Finals; Portugal won in Rotterdam (2:0) and drew in Lisbon (1:1).
The Match:
The winner of this game will play England.
Cristiano Ronaldo took quite a knock in the first ten minutes and
Khalid Boulahrouz could consider himself lucky to still be on the pitch.
Arjen Robben beat the offside trap on the quarter-hour but by the time
he tried to cut back on one defender, who managed to get to the ball with him, four more
Portuguese players were in the penalty area.
Portugal took the lead in the 23rd minute, through Nuno Maniche, after
Deco's cross from the right was touched to him by Pauleta. Maniche took the ball to his
right; to shake off the defender and make a little opening to shoot.
After receiving two periods of treatment on the sideline, Cristiano
Ronaldo broke down again just after the half-hour and had to be replaced by Simao Sabrosa.
Robin Van Persie had Nuno Valente and Ricardo Carvalho falling around
in the area as he turned them once, turned them twice, and mad fools of them again before
his shot flew wide of the far post.
A reflex save by Edwin Van der Sar, with his right foot, kept out
Pauleta's close-range shot; after substitute Simao Sabrosa had worked the ball through
from the right.
The Costinha was shown his second yellow card, for handball, and left
to go down the tunnel before his team-mates.
Half-time: (1:0)
To compensate for the loss of Costinha, Felipe Scolari brought on
Armando Petit for Pedro Pauleta.
Five minutes after the restart, Phillip Cocu slammed the ball onto the
underside of the bar and at the other end, Van der Sar was called into action to stop
Miguel's shot; a cracking start to the second-half.
Just before the hour Maniche, for Portugal and Wesley Sneijder, for
Holland both tested the opposing goalkeepers.
Then things started getting nasty as Valentin Ivanov gave out cards
like a poker dealer; Khalid Boulahrouz, who had earlier caused the injury to Ronaldo was
shown his second yellow card for elbowing Figo in the face. The Portugal captain himself
lucky not to be sent off slightly earlier for what looked like a head-but.
And the referee kept dealing the cards. A classic game it wasn't, as
twelve players were booked and two from each team sent off. If the game had gone to
extra-time, there might not have been enough players left to finish the game.
Final Score:
Portugal 1 -
Holland 0
 Goalscorers:
1:0 Nuno Maniche (23)
Teams
Portugal:
1 Alexandre Ricardo; 5 Fernando Meira, 13 Luis Miguel, 14 Nuno
Valente, 16 Ricardo Carvalho; 6 Francisco Costinha, 7 Luis Figo,
17 Cristiano Ronaldo, 18 Nuno Maniche, 20 Anderson Deco; 9 Pedro
Pauleta.
Holland:
1 Edwin Van der Sar; 3 Khalid Boulahrouz, 4 Joris Mathijsen, 5 Giovanni Van Bronckhorst,
13 Andre Ooijer; 8 Phillip Cocu, 18 Mark Van Bommel, 20 Wesley Sneijder; 7 Dirk Kuyt, 11
Arjen Robben, 17 Robin Van Persie.
Referee: Valentin Ivanov 
Substitutions:
34 Mins (Portugal) - 11 Simao Sabrosa on for 17 Cristiano Ronaldo
46 Mins (Portugal) - 8 Armando Petit on for 9 Pedro Pauleta
56 Mins (Holland) - 10 Rafael van der Vaart on for 4 Joris Mathijsen
67 Mins (Holland) - 14 Johnny Heitinga on for 18 Mark Van Bommel
84 Mins (Holland) - 19 Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink on for 8 Phillip Cocu
84 Mins (Portugal) - 19 Tiago on for 7 Luis Figo
 16
Yellow Cards:
2 Mins - Mark Van Bommel (Holland)
7 Mins - Khalid Boulahrouz (Holland)
20 Mins - Nuno Maniche (Portugal)
31 Mins - Francisco Costinha (Portugal)
45 Mins - Francisco Costinha (Portugal)
50 Mins - Pedro Pauleta (Portugal)
60 Mins - Giovanni Van Bronckhorst (Holland)
60 Mins - Luis Figo (Portugal)
63 Mins - Khalid Boulahrouz (Holland)
73 Mins - Anderson Deco (Portugal)
74 Mins - Wesley Sneijder (Holland)
74 Mins - Rafael van der Vaart (Holland)
76 Mins - Alexandre Ricardo (Portugal)
76 Mins - Nuno Valente (Portugal)
77 Mins - Anderson Deco (Portugal)
95 Mins - Giovanni Van Bronckhorst (Holland)
 4 Red Cards:
45 Mins - Francisco Costinha (Portugal)
63 Mins - Khalid Boulahrouz (Holland)
77 Mins - Anderson Deco (Portugal)
95 Mins - Giovanni Van Bronckhorst (Holland)
2006 World Cup Finals - Knockout Stage.
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