***** Official Netherlands v. Portugal Thread *****

[Silent A]

It's about time we had a thread for the juiciest match-up of the round of 16.

FWIW, I see the Netherlands winning 2-1 with a goal in the last 10 minutes.

Hop Holland Hop!

[KDawg]

since I have the netherlands winning the whole shebang, I'm gonna go, 3-1 dutch

[boc4life]

I'm amazed that people are not as impressed with Portugal as I am

Portugal thoroughly dominated in the group phase. Holland has barely impressed, skating through an extremely overrated group.

Cristiano Ronaldo has appeared to be one of the most skilled players in the entire competition, to me. His combination of size, speed, and skill makes for an outstanding player. I know he's been hated on for his flashy style, but I think an unbiased fan should be able to recognize his talent.

Portugal's style of play has been extremely impressive, to me. They play an outstanding individual game, with lots of dribbling and flair, but also maintain the traditional European style of play. The way they came out and played against Mexico was extremely impressive. Despite resting all key players carrying a yellow card, and needing only a draw to win the group, Portugal still came out with a lot of fire, and were clearly the better side, even though Mexico could have leveled with the missed PK.

I honestly think that for Holland to win this game, they will need to have a lot of breaks go their way. An early goal, continued poor form from Pauleta, poor fitness for Figo, or a mental breakdown from Ronaldo. Without breaks such as those going Holland's way, I see 2-0 Portugal

[Silent A]

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an extremely overrated group

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This comment makes it difficult for me to take your opinion seriously.

[boc4life]

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an extremely overrated group

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This comment makes it difficult for me to take your opinion seriously.

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Group C was touted as the "Group of Death", and it clearly disappointed.

Serbia and Montenegro were a squad in turmoil, and were clearly not the same team that allowed the fewest goals in European qualifying. Ivory Coast was touted as the best African nation in the WC, but that distinction clearly falls with Ghana, at this point. Ivory Coast made things interesting late against Argentina, but were severely outclassed from the opening whistle.

The group was much more competitive than the standings made it appear, but this does not mean that the group was not overrated. Holland earning a point against Argentina meant absolutely nothing, most knowledgeable fans were fully expecting a scoreless draw in that match.

I believe Group C was among the stronger groups in the group phase of play. I just don't believe it was as strong as it was expected to be. Argentina was clearly the best side in the group (Possibly the best in the tournament), while Holland looked like possibly the 6th best European team in the competition (Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and maybe England). Ivory Coast may have been able to scrape through in a weaker group, but their efforts were uneven, and they showed their lack of big stage international experience.

[SoCalRugger]

I flipped a coin, and apparently I'll be rooting for Portugal.

Go Portugal!

[Fallen Hero]

I hope Portugal wins this, recent history against Netherlands has been good to us and I don't think they've looked really strong so far. That being said Netherlands is a very good team and this can go either way.

Let's repeat the quarter finals in the euro 2004, 2-0 Portugal (hopefully we won't score own goals this time).

[Clarkmeister]

doh

[KDawg]

this has the makings of being a great game. I really need and want the netherlands to win though

[LegendofLink]

England nearly put me to sleep this morning, I hardly doubt this game can disappoint. whoever wins here will beat england.

2-1 holland off some robben magic.