Portugal v Holland - PREVIEW
Portugal desperate to avoid curse of Ruud
Ruud van Nistelrooy's lethal touch in front of goal may or may not be a gift from God, as the Netherlands' coach Dick Advocaat would have it.
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| Combo of two recent pictures taken at the European Nations football championship in Portugal showing Portugal's forward Luis Figo (L) and Dutch forward Ruud van Nistelrooy. Portugal and Netherlands will play the Euro 2004 semi-final 30 June 2004 at Alvalade stadium in Lisbon. |
But, just in case, you can be sure that several million Portuguese will be having a word with the Almighty on that very subject in the hours preceding the two countries' meeting in Euro 2004's first semi-final.
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| Dutch team manager, Dick Advocaat, is seen during a press conference in Albufeira, 28 June 2004 at the European Nations championships in Portugal. The Netherlands will meet host country Portugal in the semi-final 30 July in Lisbon. AFP PHOTO FRANCOIS GUILLOT |
With the hosts' hopes of finally claiming the major trophy they have long believed to be their birthright running at fever pitch, the build-up to Wednesday's match has been dominated by one recurring question: how do we stop van Nistelrooy?
Advocaat, understandably, is delighted. "In my opinion Ruud's the best striker around - it's incredible how he's playing," the former Rangers boss said.
"He works his socks off and you can see he's desperate to get the result he wants - to get into the final and score more goals."
Ruud's thirst for success has also been duly noted by Ricardo Carvalho and Jorge Andrade, the central defenders who will be given the task of shackling him as effectively as they snuffed out the threat posed by Spain's Raul and England's Michael Owen.
"The defence will have a big responsibility but I'm used to that and I can deal with it," says Andrade, who is expected to recover from his ankle injury to extend his run as the only outfield player to have played every minute of every match for Portugal.
"But it is not Jorge Andrade against Ruud van Nistelrooy, its Portugal against Holland," he stressed.
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| Portuguese defender Jorge Andrade listens to journalists' questions during a press conference 27 June 2004 at the Academia Sporting, near Lisbon during the European nations football Championship. Portugal will play the Euro 2004 semi-final against The Netherlands 30 June 2004 at Alvalade stadium in Lisbon. |
"It is not only my job to stop van Nistelrooy. It is the whole team that has to work together to stop the best players of our opponents.
As well as the advantage of playing in front of their own, passionate supporters, Portugal should have an edge in terms of freshness having had two extra days to recover from their quarter-final win over England.
Teams
Portugal: Ricardo - Miguel, Ricardo Carvalho, Andrade, Nuno Valente - Costinha, Maniche - Figo (capt), Deco, Cristiano Ronaldo - Pauleta
Coach: Luiz Felipe Scolari
Netherlands: Van der Sar - Reiziger, J. Stam, Bouma, Van Bronckhorst - Seedorf, Cocu (capt), Davids - Overmars, Van Nistelrooy, Robben
Coach: Dick Advocaat
Referee: Anders Frisk (SWE)