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portugal-holland was one of the weirdest games i've ever seen for holland, maybe only topped by a friendly game against belgium in 1999 or so (final score 5-5!) or that penalty disaster against italy in euro 2000. anyway, terrible referee, but portugal would've won either way. the dutch lacked creativity, were not cool enough to keep their heads (maybe lack of experience?) and not sharp enough in finishing chances.
the referee should have sent off figo and van bommel in my opinion, they were the main instigators. heitinga's not returning the ball was bad sportsmanship, but i can understand his frustration because of course the portugese "injury" that made them shoot the ball out was just another way of time wasting. all in all i don't think the game was that dirty to warrant so many cards though. nobody broke any bones; most bookings were for talking, time wasting, unsportsmanslike conduct and that kind of stuff. portugal's many cards will probably break them up if they manage to reach far this world cup. the game against england could be one with many cards too. if portugal wins that one then they'll be in a similar position as argentina in 1990.
tomorrow's games shold be interesting. spain vs france could be a very close one. sadly i doubt ghana will be able to upset brazil, and missing essien won't help either.
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