Dutch believe as penalties hex ends

HOLLAND'S success in a penalty shoot-out was enough to convince the Orange army that the European Championship trophy of 2004 will travel by barge through the picturesque canals of Amsterdam next week.

Holland beat Sweden 5-4 on penalties after 120 scoreless minutes in Faro in the quarter-final to end an excruciating sequence of eliminations at the semi-final stages of three major championships through the harsh penalty contest routine.

They lost to Denmark in Euro 92, to Italy in Euro 2000 and were eliminated by Brazil from the World Cup semi-final in France in 1998. Little wonder they were accused of lacking 'bottle'.

But all that changed when Holland's much-maligned team stood up defiantly to the athletic Swedes and out-gunned them in the penalties.

Goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar was the individual hero when he saved the sudden-death penalty from Olof Mellberg and set the scene for the 20-year-old Arjen Robben to score and bury forever the reputation that the Dutch did not have the stomach for the fight.

Van Der Sar has not always looked the most secure in the course of this championship as Holland drew with Germany, lost to the Czech Republic and beat Latvia on their way to a quarter-final meeting with Sweden. But he came through brilliantly as, indeed, did manager Dick Advocaat and a Dutch team that has not always won universal admiration.

They face Portugal tonight in a semi-final that promises to be an epic. Both teams can play open adventurous football when the mood is right and hopefully a setting that is sure to be uplifting in the pressure-cooker atmosphere of the compact Alvalade Stadium, Lisbon, will inspire. Certainly the potential for a classic is there and so, also, the ambition. Said Holland's full-back Giovanni Van Bronckhorst: "It is quite a daunting prospect now to be facing the hosts. Our games have felt like home matches because our fans have been so great but this could be different.

"Portugal will obviously have a huge support and will be desperate to perform in front of them. They have got better and it was a great display against England."

Indeed the effect the fans will inevitably have on the mood and tempo of the game was in the minds of both Holland and Portugal yesterday. Luiz Felipe Scolari made a particular point of stressing how important it could be.

"We have worked hard for many days. We are in the semi-finals, we have to win the semi-final to reach the final. We have to be happy to be this far but I do not think about the final, I think about Holland," he said.

"And I want to call on all the Portugal fans to wear red and green to match the orange shirts of Holland and offer encouragement to our team."

The support of the Dutch fans is, of course, legendary and they have invested this championship, as they have all others in recent years, with their own particular enthusiasm, colour, vivacity and unfailing good humour. No team is better served in this regard than Holland.

It is a shock then to realise that the attitude of the Dutch press is not as wholesome or as supportive. The animosity between press and the Dutch squad appears self-perpetuating and the attitude to Holland's win over Sweden was less than gracious in some publications.

"Orange beat the negative Swedes" said one without, apparently, taking note of Henrik Larsen's courageous attempts to win the game. Another underplayed the contribution of the experienced players and said: "Youngsters take the initiative."

You can hardly call Van Der Sar a youngster, or Clarence Seedorf and Edgar Davids who contributed so much in midfield. Would the Dutch be in the semi-final without the performances of Jaap Stam, Philip Cocu, Ruud van Nistelrooy? Obviously not and this is a well-rounded and capable Dutch side but one that will be faced by a Portuguese team who found their form against England and will surely be at a peak tonight. They have had two days more rest than Holland and who knows ...? In a tight contest it could be crucial. I expect it will.

It was good to see Scolari draw attention to Van Nistelrooy's cheap exploitation of the questionable new offside rule yesterday when he criticised the Dutchman for his tactics. His second goal against the Czech Republic in a match eventually drawn was scored after he had taken advantage of just such a situation.

"Van Nistelrooy sometimes starts from an offside position and gets an advantage from it. We have to be very careful about this and the referee has to be very careful about it," said Scolari.

It is with this type of attention to detail that I expect Portugal, with Figo back to play a leading role, to go on to Sunday's final.