Holland humbled - October 12, 2000 Holland 0 Portugal 2 Holland are left with a long, hard road if they are to qualify for the World Cup after their second bad home result of the Group 2 campaign. They were not even at the races against a classy Portuguese side. Lucky to earn a draw against Ireland in Amsterdam, Holland made up for that somewhat with a less-than-convincing win away against Cyprus despite the 4-0 final scoreline. They needed to get something out of last night's game against Portugal in Rotterdam but Figo & Co. had different ideas and casually stole all three points without really breaking into a canter. Sergio Conceicao opened the scoring in the 10th minute. The winger, who scored against Ireland, was put through by Pauleta and made no mistake from close range to put the Dutch under pressure. Holland were missing Giovanni van Bronckhorst and his replacement, Michael Reziger, had a night to forget in the Orange jersey. He was at fault for Portugal's second goal just before half time when his square pass was picked up by Pauleta, who went on to score. The Portuguese striker had a lot of work to do though. He beat two men before making himself a bit a space on the edge of the box and unleashing a fierce drive with flew into the back of the net, giving van der Saar no chance. Holland were not really at the races from then on as the Portuguese cruised to the top of Group 2. The scoreline could have been a lot worse, with Figo and Rui Costa breaking at will. Now if Holland are to have any chance of getting out of the group they will have to pick up points in both Ireland and Portugal - which sounds like a tall order the way both teams are playing.
Holland: Edwin van der Saar, Mario Melchiot, Frank de Boer, Philip Cocu, Michael Reiziger, Marc Overmars, Mark van Bommel, Edgar Davids, Wilfred Bouma, Patrick Kluivert, Clarence Seedorf.
Portugal: Quim, Secretario, Jorge Costa, Couto, Dimas, Teixeira, Vidigal, Rui Costa, Figo, Pauleta, Conceicao, |