The Dutch have only won one of the nine meetings between themselves and Portugal.The last time these two sides met the Portuguese won 2-1. That was in the semi-finals of Euro 2004 and Portugal midfielder Nuno Maniche is looking for a repeat performance.They have never met each other in a World Cup game.
Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has won his last 10 World Cup matches as a coach and has Portugal on a 17-match unbeaten roll. So he is keeping to his game plan.
“We’ll lose one day. Maybe against the Dutch,” Scolari said. “I possess no secret. There’s nothing special, apart from scoring more than your opponent. My teams have been better than their adversaries at certain points in time, but that can change”
On the other side Netherlands coach Marco Van Basten has had some problems with Van Nistelrooy and he may not play in the match against Portugal.