These two sides had met similarly at the semi-finals on the previous Euro 2004; which kind of added to the animosity; and a large number of characters from both sides were involved in this encounter as well. From the get-go: you could sense that both sides were desperate to win; and it was Portuguese midfielder Maniche who got the crucial goal in the 23rd minute; the same man who scored the winner when they met two years ago.
Perhaps not surprisingly; the tone was set early on by Dutch hard-man Khalid Boulahrouz; who wasted no time in cynically chopping down Cristiano Ronaldo; forcing his substitution off before half-time. It was a move that was 'quite-obviously designed' to take the Portugal star out. It was Portugal's defensive midfielder Costinha who 'got he ball rolling'; getting sent off just before half-time for two booakable offences.
Early in the second half'; the flames were heightened further when the normally placid Luis Figo got involved in a heated head-butt confrontation with the combative Mark van Bommel on the side-lines. And it was Boulahrouz who was sent off in the 63rd minute after fouling Figo; precipitating an all-out bench clear-out from the Portuguese bench; with the never-to-be-forgotten sight of Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari trying desperately to prevent his bench from creating an all-out war.
The yellow cards continued flying in all directions as the match threatened to descend into mayhem. Deco than received the red card in the 78th minute for delaying the re-start of a free-kick; and in injury-time; it was Dutch left-back Giovanni van Bronckhorst who was sent off for a foul on Tiago; leading both sides down to nine men as the chaos continued to ensue.
It was a crazy match that will always be remembered.
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