Portugal reached the final of a major tournament for the first time after beating Holland 2-1 (pix).
Ronaldo gave the host nation the lead in the 26th minute with another fine header. He may very well be better at being on the receiving end than providing crosses. The young winger took his jersey off to celebrate and earned himself a yellow card for that. Some would say he got what he deserved but Barry Glendenning’s dry comment nails it:
“What kind of an idiot is Ronaldo with the shirt act? I hope he winds up missing the final,” writes Brendan from Philadelphia, who’d probably settle for firm handshakes all around if he was 19 years of age and had just scored in front of his own fans in the semi-final of a European Championship.
Maniche doubled the Portuguese lead in the 56th minute with a brilliant shot from just outside of the box following a short corner taken by Ronaldo. Unfortunately, television audiences didn’t get to see the goal live since the director thought it was important to show a replay of how the corner had been conceded.
It looked like a Dutch fight back was on when Andrade put the ball in his own net while attempting to clear a cross but the Portuguese hung on for victory.
The end result was the right one. Some of Portugal’s attacking play was delightful to watch whereas Advocaat’s Holland side were as dreary and uninventive as they were throughout Euro 2004.
You sometimes wonder about players’ commitment to the national cause because some tend to reserve their best performances for their paymasters rather than their country but I don’t think there could be any question of Figo’s passion for his nation. Both he and Rui Costa were hugging each other for the longest time after the match and you could see how much this win and the chance to play in the final meant to them. Both are of Portugal’s so-called Golden Generation and great things were expected of them. Now in the last years of their careers, they have one last shot of delivering glory for their country.
