European Under 21 Championships: Netherlands vs Portugal

We managed to watch the match through the internet. After the Dutch got their lead through Ryan Babel's penalty in the first half, they changed their tactic to a more counter attacking approach. Portugal got more possession as the hosts sat back. But despite their majority of possession, the Portuguese did not use it effectively. Credit to be given to the Dutch defence as the Portuguese where restricted to ambitious long range attempts - none went close by the way.

In the 75th minute, the Dutch got their 2nd goal through a counter attack. Babel laid the ball back to the impressive Drenthe who showed a burst of pace to get to the byline and cross from the left for Rigters to slot in from close range. Poor and static defending by the Portuguese as Rigters was unmarked when he received the ball to slot home.

Portugal did make it an interesting last 10 mins when Miguel Veloso gets them right back in the match with a stunning free-kick, curled over the wall from over 20 metres into the top-corner of Vermeer's net. Unfortunately, the Dutch defence was not under immense pressure from the Portugal attack in the last minutes. Netherlands held on with ease and booked their place into the semi finals.

Royston Drenthe
He was easily the best player on the park yesterday night. The winger was a constant threat for the Portuguese fullbacks. His change of speed and quick change of directions allowed him to get past the defenders on many occasions. He plays his football for Feyernoord.

Ryan Babel
He is seen as the leader of this Dutch pack. Unfortunately in this game, he was quite isolated at the front. Nonetheless, he showed his ability to hold up the ball and also to get past players. Some Arsenal fans say he could be next Henry. From what we saw, he got a long way to go. He is an Ajax player....for now.

Joao Moutinho
The creative midfielder was subdued by the Dutch. He did show his positional awareness and does a lot of movement on the pitch. He currently plays for Sporting Lisbon.

Nani
All eyes were on him. At least ours was. He played on the right wing and to be honest, we were rather disappointed. One thing for sure, at the age, Cristiano Ronaldo was a much better and effective player. Nani does not possess the pace of Ronaldo and we did not see any impressive skills on the ball. One thing that stood out from the game is his ability to cross the ball. When he whipped the ball in, it looked very dangerous and more often than not, finds his target. So that's a consolation from the game. He was very consistent though....at disputing every referees decision made against him.