Paulo Bento selected an unchanged line-up for the fifth successive competitive match. As expected, Holland, needing to win by two clear goals to have any chance of making progress, went for a more adventurous starting XI, dropping one of their two defensive midfielders, Van Bommel, to bring in Van der Vaart.

The move paid immediate dividends. Robben had already been causing problems with his darting runs down the right flank, leading to an early chance that Sneijder fired over. And when Robben cut inside in the 11th minute, he teed up Van der Vaart instead of shooting for goal. The Tottenham Hotspur player produced a brilliant curling shot from 20 yards past the diving Rui Patrício and into the corner of the net.
 

At that point Portugal were going out of the Euros, but the Selecção responded in brilliant fashion. Rather than panic, Portugal stepped up their pressing game and started passing more accurately and at higher speed, with João Moutinho and Cristiano Ronaldo at the heart of the immediate reaction. The two combined on 15 minutes as a wonderful slide-rule pass down the left touchline from the FC Porto midfielder set the captain racing towards goal. Ronaldo cut inside his marker and saw his low shot beat Dutch goalkeeper Stekelenburg and hit the outside of the post.

A horrendous back-pass then gave Postiga a one-on-one chance to equalise, but a combination of defender and goalkeeper denied the striker his second goal in successive matches. Meireles blasted into the side-netting, then Ronaldo’s close-range header from a Nani cross was straight at the goalkeeper who made a sharp reaction save.

Sneijder shot into Patrício’s midriff from range in a rare Holland foray, but Portugal were swamping the midfield and got a richly deserved equaliser in the 27th minute, with the assist coming from an unlikely source. Right-back João Pereira made a diagonal run towards the area and slipped a genial throughball to Ronaldo, who timed his run to perfection and made no mistake with just the goalkeeper to beat.
 

Still Portugal came relentlessly forward. Ronaldo - showing none of the anxiety that had caused so much negative publicity in the Denmark game -  stung Stekelenburg’s hands with a pile-driver from over thirty yards out, Veloso fired a free-kick narrowly over the bar and a Ronaldo header whistled just wide. As the players trooped off the pitch at half time Portugal could be forgiven for wondering how they were not in the lead.

The second half started in worrying fashion for Portugal as the Netherlands worked up something of a head of steam. A series of dangerous crosses flew around the six-yard box as Portugal failed to retain their stranglehold on proceedings. Nevertheless,  the Holland front two of Van Persie and Huntelaar, so fearsome on paper, continued to be largely anonymous. At the other end of the pitch Postiga had the ball in the net, but it was rightly ruled out for offside.

Portugal’s best chances were now coming from rapid breakaways rather than continuous attack. In the 66th minute Ronaldo surged towards goal and fed his Real Madrid team-mate Fábio Coentrão, who brought a fine diving save out of Stekelenburg. Ronaldo then provided a brilliant assist for Nani, but in a carbon copy of the chance Silvestre Varela missed against Germany in the first Group B game, Nani’s low effort from point-blank range was saved by the sprawling goalkeeper.

At that point it was impossible not to fear that such glaring misses might prove the story behind an early demise for Portugal at Euro 2012. 
 

But Portugal fans could finally breathe a sigh of relief in the 74th minute. Moutinho, who was majestic throughout the 90 minutes, got hold of the ball in midfield and fed a neat pass to Nani on the right. The Manchester United winger raced forward, looked up and delivered a sensational low cross into the path of Ronaldo, who did the rest with a superb dummy to beat his marker and a classy finish into the corner. Bruno Alves almost scored a third soon afterwards at Portugal threatened to run riot.

It was at this point that Portugal enjoyed a slice of luck as Van der Vaart was only denied another stunning goal by the frame of the goal, and Van Persie rifled wide from inside the box with just Patrício to beat.

Portugal ended on a high, however, as two more lightning attacks almost resulted in goals. First Nani’s chip was just too high before Ronaldo was denied a hat-trick by the post as his 25 yard shot smacked back off the upright with Stekelenburg beaten all ends up.

Shortly afterwards the final whistle went on a Portugal performance oozing with skill, speed and class, and above all the determination not to let this chance slip by. If the Selecção continue this form, who knows how far they can go…

By Tom Kundert

Portugal:
Rui Patrício, João Pereira, Pepe, Bruno Alves, Fábio Coentrão, Miguel Veloso, Raul Meireles (Custódio, 72’), João Moutinho, Nani (Rolando, 87’), Cristiano Ronaldo, Hélder Postiga (Nélson Oliveira, 64’)

Netherlands:
Stekelenburg, Van der Wiel, Mathijsen, Vlaar, Willems (Affelay, 67’), De Jong, Sneijder, Van der Vaart, Robben, Van Persie, Huntelaar

Goals:
[0-1] Van der Vaart, 11’
[1-1] Cristiano Ronaldo, 28’
[2-1] Cristiano Ronaldo, 73’

Yellow Cards: Willems (51’), Van Persie (69’), João Pereira (90’+2’)