Liveblog: Portugal vs. Netherlands

In a game of fluctuating levels of players on the pitch, and 16 yellow cards, Portugal found time to score a fantastic goal and hold on to beat a physical Dutch team that lacked punch in the six yard box. Portugal face England in the quarter-finals and the Dutch go home. Keep adding your comments about the madness on the pitch in the comments below.

Final: Netherlands 0-1 Portugal

Full-time: Portugal hold on to win it! Amazing game. 16 yellow cards and 4 red cards. Be interested to read what Aaron over at the referee’s blog has to say about this performance by the man in the middle.

Dutch World Cup is over to a resolute Portugal. They held on while chaos reigned for long periods. The Dutch created some decent chances but could not find the finishing touch needed to equalize. The inquisition of van Basten’s selection choices will begin tomorrow.

Portugal coach Scolari’s unbeaten World Cup run continues. Portugal faces England in the quarter-finals but they will have to do it without Deco and Costinha after both were sent off today.

96:10 – Last chance for the Dutch. Ball pumped into the area and van Persie leaps around like a landed fish. Portugal appeals for a card for a dive, but it looked like he just jumped awkwardly.

95:32 – Tiago breaks into the Dutch box and gives a little shake’n'bake before toeing the ball towards goal. Dutch defense caught napping again.

94:10 – Red Card! Gio gets a yellow card and is also sent off. His tackle on Simao followed a preiod where Portugal was keeping the ball away nicely from Holland. Simao did well to chase down a loose ball and win back possession after the move broke down and Gio hacked at him. 9 on 9 now.

92:13 – Dutch laying seige to the Portugal 18 yard box. Crosses keep getting pumped in and keep getting repelled by Portugal. Kuyt is making his presense felt but can’t get a clear header.

89:34 – Goal mouth action as Kuyt slides in and the cross just misses his foot. Desparation for the Dutch now. 6 minutes of unjury time.

87:45 – Portugal breaks free and Miguel passes into the area for Simao running through unmarked. Where is the Dutch defense? Simao is called for offside but not before van der Saar has to make a save at his feet. Simao slid in as he was justified in doing but van der Saar took offense and tries to punch Simao while simultaneously yelling at the referee. He’s a talented man, for sure.

86:00 – Van der Vaart is whistled for handball. Portugal pumps the ball long to ease the pressure. Simao will have a lonely time up front, chasing long balls for as long as this game goes on. We can expect about 10 minutes of injury time after all the shenanigans.

84:25 – Dutch bring off Cocu for Vennegor. That’s it for their subs. No van Nistelrooy tonight. Will they get the goal they need to progress without him?

82:48 – No subs as far as we can tell. Dutch warming up the guy with the longest name on the back of a jersey. Vanneldoor of Hesseldink (or something like that) is the player we might see next. Finally Figo does come off and Tiago is on. Looks like Ricardo is gonna be ok.

81:17 – Tiago about to come on for Portugal. Figo is coming off. Portugal is battening down the hatches. They will try to defend this lead til the end. But wait! The goalkeeper may not be able to continue. Will they have to sub Ricardo instead?

79:30 – Kuyt has the chance of the game, put through one on one with Ricardo. He slides in but Ricardo does well to make himself big and makes a fantastic save. Now he’s hurt although it’s not apparent how Kuyt actually hurt Ricardo’s thigh.

78:43 – Amongst all the madness, a game of football has broken out. Portugal trying to make attacking moves with only 9 men on the park. The Dutch counter but their shots are being blocked before they become dangerous.

77:19 – Red Card! Deco is booked again and is sent off for not giving the ball back. Deco delaying the game and gets a yellow card. Stupid, stupid foul. Dutch have 10, Portugal with 9 players.

75:50 – Valente hacks down van Persie and gets a yellow card for his trouble. The match is in danger of escalating out of control and I’ll be surprised if we don’t see another sending off.

74:42 – Play restarts with a free kick which bends nicely but the header at the far post is wide. Keeper Ricardo gets a yellow card but for what I don’t know.

72:18 – Chaos breaks out. The Dutch were unsporting after not giving possession back to Portugal after the stoppage of play for Carvalho’s injury. Deco hacks down Heitinga. Then Sneijder knocks down Deco and its a melee in the middle of the field. Referee loses control momentarily. Van der Vaart also gets yellow card.

70:48 – Robben makes a flying run down the left wing but his cross is just too high for Kuyt at the near post. The ball breaks to the edge of the area and Carvalho makes a fantastic tackle to block the shot by Sneijder.

69:41 – Heitinga is disposesed in midfield and Deco breaks forward. A nice move on the edge of the are but no shot is forthcoming.

68:03 – van Persie has awoken from his World Cup slumber and is making nice moves, ala Ronaldo but with actual usefulness. His great cross slides across the 6 yard box but there is no one to follow through. That’s van Nistelrooy’s territory for sure.

66:44 – van Bommel comes off to be replaced by Heitinga. van Bommel is on a yellow card and the way this game is going, maybe van Basten was worried his aggressive midfielder might not finish the game. Will we see van Nistelrooy?

64:35 – Both teams down to 10 men now and the game should open up even more. Not to say justice was done, but the Dutch have been very physical in this game and Boulahrouz earned his marching orders.

62:08 – Red Card! Chaos reigns as Boulahrouz gets his second yellow for elbowing Figo in the face. Figo did get struck in the face and he went down like a sack of crap. Wasn’t intentional by the look, but Sepp Blatter has called elbows in football the Devil and it must be removed from the game.

61:46 – Portugal enjoying a purple patch of possession here. Let’s hope they don’t wear themselves out.

59:56 – After the dust settles, Simao takes the free kick and hits the roof of the goal, but unfortunately for Portugal the outside of the netting. Nice effort, but no cigar.

58:16 – Nice period of possession for Portugal eats away from clock and eventually a foul on Deco at the top of the arc of the 18 yard box. Van Bronkhurst gets the yellow card for the late tackle. Confusion reigns as Figo gets in the face if van Bommel and may well have spat in his face. Van Bommel hits the deck like he’s been punched. Figo gets a yellow card.

56:32 – Portugal break out of defense and the ball finds it’s way to Figo on the left. He runs at defenders then releases to Maniche on the edge of the area. His shot forces a great diving save from van der Saar.

55:02 – Attacking substitution for the Dutch. Mathijsen comes off for van der Vaart. Dutch need to score and with the extra man, they can afford to play 3 at the back.

54:56 – Kuyt contines to have a shocker. His touch lets him down on a throw-in and it goes out for a goal kick.

53:24 – Figo tries to ease the pressure by dribbling to get a shot away. A nice bending effort but van der Saar has it easily covered.

52:23 – Corner from van Persie is a shocker. Too hard and sails harmlessly away. Shots of van Nistelrooy warming up. The Dutch will need his finishing power.

49:46 – Van Bommel has a shot from outside the area on a slight angle along the deck with troubles Ricardo. He flaps at it and looks as though he made a hash of it, but the ball spills wide. Dutch rampant right now.

48:40 – Great chances for the Dutch! Cocu rocks the cross bar but the ball bounces out. A cros from the left sees van Bommel attempt a bicycle kick. The ball falls to Cocu 12 yards and he hammers it against the bar.

46:27 – Keep an eye out for the subtle time-wasting Portugal will do this half as they try to hold on to their slender lead with only 10 men. Expect the Dutch to have a lot of possession, let’s see what they can do with it.

45:01 – Pauleta has been taken off and Petit is on in his place. Portugal is preparing for the defensive mountain they have to climb to get this win.

Half-time Highlights: Some folks in the comments aren’t too happy with the Ronaldo bashing in the LiveBlog. True we’ve been harsh on the young guy, but let’s face it he loves the attention of the camera and the fans. I hate to see him leave the game the way he did and I respect his emotions shown after being kicked out of the game. Even though Portugal is down basically two men now, I would be happy to see them hang on and win so we get to see Ronaldo again in this World Cup.

Half-time: Portugal have been the better team of the half, controlling possession well and creating more chances that the Dutch. Maniche’s goal was a well worked team effort along with his individual skill. Pauleta will have thought he scored for sure until van der Saar ruined his celebrations with a great save.

The Dutch have not shown much except for small flashes of nice play. Robben is a danger and van Persie came closest with his outside of the boot shot that whizzed across the face of goal after he’d schooled multiple Portuguese defenders inside the box.

The sending off of Costinha is a huge blow to Portugal. The Dutch should be able to exploit the extra space if they keep moving the ball from side to side between Robben and van Persie. Kuyt has been quiet and not shown why he should be in for van Nistelrooy. In fact, a bit more selfishness from him might have resulted in more shots on goal.

47:55 – Figo shows he’s still got some skills down the left wing. The move dies out and the ref blows for half-time.

45:50 – Red Card! Costinha gets his second yellow for a stupid handball and is sent off. It was an obvious handball but I don’t know if he intended it as he stretched for the ball. That changes the complexion of this game completely for the second half.

44:23 – Pauleta has a great strike from 9 yards well saved by van der Saar. Amazing save.

43:45 – Wesley Snipes has a free kick on the corner of the 18 yard box, but he strikes it high and wide, not getting the bend he wanted.

42:13 – Robben is called for a high challenge in the box, though it appeared more like Robben was kicked in the chest by the Portuguese player. Our resident referee called is a small testicles call by the ref who did not want to give a penalty for a high challenge.

40:32 – Some nice battling in midfield from both teams. Ronaldo kind of reminds me of the Karate Kid. He gets kicked unfairly to hurt him and take him out of the tournament. Unfortunately Portugal does not have Mr Miyagi to do that clapping-warm-hands routine to get him back out on the park. Magic spray can only do so much.

38:27 – Ooijer just fell over in the middle of the park, no one near him. Sniper shot? Replay shows a knock in the back of the leg. Retaliation from Portugal for kicking Ronaldo out of the game?

37:00 – Great work by van Persie in the box. He skins two players with a sweet cut back but skews shit eventual shot wide with the goal beckoning. Great chance for the Dutch and nice to see some life from them.

34:42 – Duch cannot keep possession beyond their own half. They get so far but either lose it or have to turn back. We’ve seen some bodily fluids today. Beckham’s vomit and Ronaldo’s tears. What’s next? Some blood?

32:40 – Ronaldo has gone down again. He got crunched and will be coming off for good. Simao takes his place, but a big blow for Portugal and a big blow for the young man. He’s in tears and in some pain.

30:39 – Yellow card for Costinha after he scythes down Cocu. He gets up limping but he’s a hard man and should be fine after a few minutes. Get some magic spray for that guy!

28:47 – Long ball from van Bommel finds Robben who controls well with no space to work with. He works inside but it ends up being a Portuguese player who sends the ball goalwards, but Ricardo is not required to make a save.

25:22 – Nice early goal that will be great for the game. The Dutch look good enough to create some chances. in the meantime, Maniche is feeling good tonight. A long range effort that’s just over the bar, even though van der Saar had it covered.

22:33 – GGGGOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!!! Maniche scores with a wonderful burst into the box. Ronaldo to Deco on the wing, who plays it in and Pauleta puts it on a platter for Maniche, who beats one player before hammering home.

21:09 – van Persie with a foul throw. Come on, son, how hard can it be?

19:08 – Robben hits the deck and appeals for a free kick. His pouting is worthy of Ronaldo. Maniche goes into the ref’s book for clattering through the back of van Bommel.

17:40 – Nice work by Deco earns Portugal a corner. Half cleared by the Dutch and away for another corner. Figo works hard to get a cross away, but the Dutch are strong enough and take care of business.

15:31 – Robben breaks the offside trap beautifully but gets shut down in the box. His pass finds a team-mate but no shot results. Eventually Portugal clears.

14:34 – Figo blows by Gio and gets a cross in. Pauleta leaves it thinking he had a player behind him following up. Cleared by the Dutch.

13:01 – One step-over move by Ronaldo for those keeping count. That magic spray is good stuff.

12:30 – Figo already moved to the left side. Perhaps the Dutch are weak on that side, though with Gio playing out there, you’d have to think the other side might bear more fruit.

10:50 – Close up of the magic spray being applied to Ronaldo’s thigh. Nearly a whole bottle going on there. Might be a corked thigh. Those hurt a lot. His legs are pretty smooth too. He shaves? Or maybe has not hit puberty yet – hence the pouting.

09:18 – Ronaldo moving a bit gingerly after the tackles he’s been through. Hope he’s gonna be ok. Figo has started on the right, Ronaldo on the left. I’m sure they’ll move around throughout the game. He’s really struggling out there. Maybe Ronaldo’s game is over before it’s begun.

08:14 – Good defense by Miguel who dispossesses Robben who was making his run into the Portuguese box. Should be a great battle between those two all night.

06:58 – Dangerous tackle on Ronaldo by Boulahrouz which earms him a yellow card. Looks like he’ll be getting some attention tonight. Ample ammunition for the pout-o-meter.

06:13 – Portugal breaking nicely and with speed through Miguel. The move slows down once they hit the Dutch 18 but they keep possession. Eventually i breaks down, but it woke the crowd up.

03:45 – Van Persie is fouled while jumping. Looked like nothing, but the Dutch have a free kick. Gio stands over it. His shot is decently hit, but does not trouble Ricardo who scoops it up.

02:49 – Robben picks up the ball after Portugal are unable to clear their wing. His shot goes way wide and high.

01:12 – Van Bommel shoots just wide. nice chance for the Dutch. He picks up a yellow card 2 seconds later for a challenge on Ronaldo. Not good for van Bommel.

00:01 – We’re off! Goals galore is the prayer to the football gods. How many step-overs will we see from Ronaldo tonight?

National Anthems: Dutch looking sharp in white. Maniche is in the Portuguese line-up even though I thought he’d picked up too many yellow cards in group play. His distance shooting will hopefully be on target today. Portuguese players all belting out the national anthem. Great to see these players obviously caring. Dutch players a little more reserved but all singing to a man. Nice one.

5 minutes to go: After sitting through the agony of England’s win against Ecuador, I just hope we see some enterprising football and some shots on goal. As nice as Beckham’s free kick was, it was slim pickings for anything else of note in that game. These teams like to attack and have excellent wide players. Players in the tunnel about to come out.

15 minutes to go: Looking at recent performances, Luis Paulo over on the Portugal team blog breaks down the recent meetings between these two teams and Portugal has the upper hand by some margin. Portugal has not lost to the Dutch in 7 games. Several have been draws though and that won’t be enough today. Still, it makes my prediction for extra time look more likely, but I don’t know if I backed the winning horse on this one.

20 minutes to go: Still on the Dutch, Jan reports that Holand will wear their white away kits tonight. Portugal is considered the home team by whatever mystical formula FIFA uses to decide these things and will wear their usual maroon kits, which is a shame cos I’m looking forward to seeing Portugal take the field in their black away kits – though I hope for their sake it’s not during the heat of the early game. I quite fancy the Dutch white jerseys. If you do too, you can buy them here.

30 minutes to go: According to the Dutch team blog, Kuyt is replacing Van Nistelrooy up front. This is a surprise to me as I’ve been very unimpressed by Kuyt. Van Nistelrooy hasn’t exactly set the tournament on fire either, but he has scored once already and is a proven goal-poacher. What has Kuyt done to justify his inclusion? I don’t know, but if you do, please leave a comment. I’m all ears – just like Cocu.

Pregame: What is your prediction for the game?
After the snooze-fest in the summer sun that was England vs Ecuador, we can only hope the later game time will mean more running and a more exciting game. On paper the teams should produce a game worthy of a later round game, but as I read in the comments of an earlier LiveBlog, paper tears easily.

It’s hard for me to even predict a score in this game. Both teams have done well enough in the group stages without really turning on the jets and wowing us. I like the look of Holland’s defence, and Portugal has an abundance of talent up front. The Dutch aren’t too shabby in the wingers department either so we should see a spread out game with some nice passing.

I definitely don’t know what I’m talking about, but I have to make a prediction here. I’m going to go with the Netherlands and a 2-1 victory after extra time. Let’s see how wrong I can be.

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