Portugal 1-0 Netherlands

Portugal beat Netherlands 1-0 in the second round of the World Cup on Sunday in an ill-tempered game. Referee Ivanov produced his yellow card 16 times and his red card four times as both teams were reduced to nine men in their second round clash -- a record for any World Cup.

The only goal of the game was scored in the 23rd minute by Maniche who made space in the box and thumped the ball just inside the post. But after that the game dissolved into a bad-tempered affair and a constant flurry of yellow and red cards.

Portugal finished with only nine men after Costinha was sent off just before halftime and midfield ace Deco followed in the 78th minute. Both will miss the quarter-final against England in on Saturday. Dutch defenders Khalid Boulahrouz and Giovanni van Bronckhorst were also shown red cards in the second half.

This was a match full of passion and fighting spirit as both sides were determined to reach the quarter-finals. In the first half, Portugal played better as players like Deco, Luis Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo and Maniche rose to the occasion. In the second half, the Dutch came back with Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie making good runs down the flanks and dangerous crosses into the penalty box. However, they came up against a very tight Portugal defence which did not give anything away.

The momentum of the game switched between the two teams each time they lost a player and the game was interrupted with fouls. For the two teams' football traditions and pedigree, it could have been an entertaining match had it not degenerated into a street-fight and the referee's trigger-happy approach.

Coach Scolari showed once again his credentials as a world class coach by instilling in Portugal a self-belief besides improvement to their skills and technical abilities. He brought them to the finals of the European Cup two years ago and now continues his run in the World Cup without a loss yet since he led Brazil to victory four years ago.

The Portugese are fortunate to have him as a coach and even though, this game depleted the strength of the team, Soccer Pundit will not bet on him losing out to England in the next round...