A poor cross from Afellay is easily dealt with. The Dutch are labouring now.
90' +1
Afellay sends a cross in from deep on the right wing, but it hits a Portuguese head and loops in to the arms of Rui Patricio.
90'
The Dutch are still giving it a go, although 3 goals seems unlikely now, but another attack is broken down and the ball sent up to Cristiano Ronaldo who shoots from outside the area and hits the post.
88'
The Dutch mount an attack, with Robben playing a neat one-two in to the middle and sliding the ball through for Van Persie to shoot, but the Arsenal striker hits it badly wide.
87'
Rolando enters the game and replaces Nani.
SUBSTITUTION: Nani off, Rolando on.
85'
Nani fires another effort off target. This time he opts for power, but sends the ball way over the top left corner.
84'
Afellay sends a ball into the penalty area from the right wing, but it is headed out by the Portuguese defence. Portugal win possession from the resulting corner and mount a lightning counter attack, but Nani tries to be too clever with a chip which lands on top of the net.
83'
Van der Vaart hits the post with a wonderful shot from 25 yards out.
81'
GROUP B UPDATE: Germany 2 - Denmark 1. Lars Bender scores for Germany to hand them the advantage in Group B.
Minute
Description
80'
Miguel Veloso hits the corner long and finds Bruno Alves for the cut back, but the resulting shot is directed straight at Stekelenburg.
77'
Another Portuguese attack, as Nani is released down the right wing and pings the ball in towards two advancing red shirts, but it is too close to Stekelenburg.
76'
Sneijder shoots from all of 40 yards. The Dutch must now score three goals to have a chance of progressing.
74'
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored a goal for Portugal! Assist by Nani.
GOAL: Netherlands 1 - Portugal 2. Pepe breaks down a Dutch attack on the edge of the Portuguese area and the ball is in the Dutch area at Cristiano Ronaldo's feet in a flash. This time Stekelenburg is unable to do anything about it, as the number 7 slides it into the bottom right corner.
72'
Custodio enters the game and replaces Raul Meireles.
Stekelenburg pulls off an impossible save after Ronaldo hares into the box and slides the ball across to an unmarked Nani. The Dutch keeper somehow covers the entire width of the goal to get down and put his body in front of the ball.
71'
SUBSTITUTION: Meireles off, Custodio on.
70'
Bruno Alves hits a free kick long, but it is picked off by the Dutch defence and given to De Jong to commence another attack.
69'
R. van Persie gets yellow.
Afellay gets his first taste of action with the ball down the right flank, but he meets a wall of red and has to send it back towards the centre circle.
67'
I. Afellay enters the game and replaces J. Willems.
SUBSTITUTION: Willems off, Afellay on. An attacking throw of the dice from the Dutch.
66'
Meireles is on the ground after a strong upright challenge from De Jong.
65'
SUBSTITUTION: Postiga off, Nelson Oliveira on.
64'
Nélson Oliveira enters the game and replaces Hélder Postiga.
Rui Patricio overhits a clearance to give away a throw to the Dutch inside the Portuguese half.
62'
Van Persie, who appears to be operating on the right wing at the moment, is brought down close to the half-way line. The free kick is pumped upfield and cleared by the Portuguese defence.
60'
DISALLOWED GOAL: Postiga get the ball in the net from Cristiano Ronaldo's cross, but the linesman flags the striker offside.
56'
Pereira brings down Robben on the left wing and the Dutch have a penalty shout as De Jong goes to ground trying to get his head on the resulting free kick. The referee waves play on.
55'
Willems bundles a cross-field ball out for a throw, which is planted at Pereira's feet for him to wastefully shoot wide.
53'
Cristiano Ronaldo's first-half goal makes him the first Portuguese player to score at 5 major tournaments. He also scored at Euro '04 & '08 and WC '06 & '10.
51'
J. Willems gets yellow.
Willems brings down Moutinho with a horrible challenge near the half-way line and gets a yellow card. He will miss the next round in the event the Netherlands progress.
50'
The Dutch mount an attack, but the final ball is poor. Rui Patricio gets it away.
49'
Moutinho swings the free kick in to the Dutch area and then gets on to the ball following the Dutch clearance, but he slams his volley into the stands.
48'
Vlaar sticks his leg out and takes Cristiano Ronaldo down while he is running at full pelt. The Portuguese looks a little bemused.
47'
If things stay as they are, 1-1 in both Group B matches, Germany and Portugal would advance.
46'
Netherlands restart the match and the ball goes back to Vlaar, who hammers it long towards Sneijder, giving away a throw-in to the Portuguese.
45' +1
HALF TIME: Netherlands 1 - Portugal 1
45'
Van der Wiel tries to find Robben with a looping ball down the left wing, but it is cleared for a throw.
43'
Van Persie is forced to chase a speculative ball down the left wing, but Pepe gets to it first and clears the danger.
42'
Stekelenburg is on the money with a a long ball, planting it on the chest of Huntelaar, but the Schalke striker is harshly penalised for backing into Bruno Alves.
41'
Stekelenburg over hits his goal kick and the Portuguese win a throw just inside their own half.
40'
Netherlands win a free kick 50 yards out on the right wing, which Van der Vaart hammers towards the penalty area for Rui Patricio to gather.
39'
The Dutch try to bring the ball towards the Portuguese goal, but it ends up out for a throw after a scuffle on the right flank.
37'
Miguel Veloso shoots from an extremely tight angle and the ball ends up on the roof of the goal. The Portuguese are appealing for a corner but the referee is not interested.
36'
Van der Vaart blocks of Nani on the right wing, who goes down like he has been shot. Portuguese free kick.
35'
Moutinho finds Ronaldo with a corner, but the Real Madrid man sends his bullet header wide right of the post.
33'
Moutinho finds Nani on the right wing, who lashes the ball in to the centre for the Dutch to bundle away once again. The Portuguese are fully in the ascendancy now.
32'
Again the Portuguese find their way in to the Dutch area, but the cut-back is scrambled away. The Netherlands defence is looking nervous.
30'
Suddenly its all Portugal as a long ball towards the right wing evades two Dutch defenders and is cut back to Ronaldo, who spreads it to Nani. The shot is hammered wide by the Manchester United winger.
28'
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored a goal for Portugal! Assist by João Pereira.
GOAL: Netherlands 1 - Portugal 1. Willems loses possession and in the follow up Pereira slides the ball in to Cristiano Ronaldo, who tucks the ball away from inside the 6-yard box.
27'
Van Persie spreads the ball wide to Sneijder, who shoots from all of 35 yards. The ball is heading towards the bottom left corner, but Rui Patricio gathers it.
25'
Before today's game only Spain (1452) and France (1092) had completed more passes than the Netherlands in the first two matches. The Dutch total was 891.
23'
GROUP B UPDATE: Denmark 1 - Germany 1. At this rate the Danes and Germans will both progress.
22'
Sneijder sends a searching free kick into the area, which is nodded out for a corner. Van der Vaart finds De Jong free at the far post but the ball is too high for him to connect well with it.
21'
Moutinho breaks into the Dutch area with a mazy run, but meets a wall of three orange shirts and the ball is cleared. The Portuguese don't appear to be offering much in the way of follow up support to their men on attack.
19'
This is end-to-end stuff. Robben canons the ball off of Huntelaar's head and 10 seconds later Christiano Ronaldo has the ball at his feet and shoots from outside the Dutch penalty area.
18'
Meireles hammers a shot at the Dutch goal from an ambitious angle inside the area but only finds the side netting.
17'
Stekelenburg pumps the ball toward Van der Wiel, but the Portuguese gain possession and Postiga is given the ball with only the keeper to beat. Stekelenburg appears to get a hand to it as it goes out for a corner.
15'
Netherlands back on the ball again, but Van der Wiel is dispossessed and the Portuguese attack on the break. Cristiano Ronaldo hits the ball wide from just outside the Dutch penalty area.
13'
The Dutch fans can really be heard now. Netherlands must win by 2 goals to have a hope of progressing from Group B.
11'
R. van der Vaart has scored a goal for Netherlands! Assist by A. Robben.
GOAL: Netherlands 1 - Portugal 0. Robben jinks towards the box and lays the ball off to Van der Vaart on the edge of the area, who plants it precisely into the left side netting.
10'
Patient approach play from the Dutch, with Van der Vaart and De Jong sitting in the middle and spreading play around.
9'
Sneijder tries to thread in Huntelaar as he attacks the Portuguese penalty area, but the ball is cleared.
7'
Cristiano Ronaldo's free kick takes a deflection off the Dutch wall and the resulting corner brings a scramble in the penalty area.
6'
De Jong is bossing the centre circle at the moment, but tries a rash challenge on Nani, who stays on his feet. The Dutch do not want to lose their hard-tackling midfielder today.
4'
Good work from Van der Wiel down the right flank brings the ball to Sneijder's feet inside the Portuguese area on the opposite flank, but the Inter Milan midfielder skies it over the bar and wide.
3'
Willems whips a cross towards Huntelaar in the Portuguese area, but overhits it for Rui Patricio to gather comfortably.
2'
Van der Vaart brings down Meireles for a free kick in the Portugal half and Pepe pumps it upfield.
1'
Portugal get the game under way and immediately give away possession on their left flank.
Welcome to today's Euro 2012 Group B encounter between Portugal and Netherlands. The venue for this game is the Oblasny SportKomplex Metalist in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Nicola Rizzoli of Italy will be your referee for this match.
Holland: Stekelenburg; Van der Wiel, Mathijsen, Vlaar, Willems; N. De Jong, Sneijder, Robben, Van der Vaart; Huntelaar, Van Persie
The weather is fair and the pitch looks immaculate at this very impressive stadium.
Netherlands have not beaten Portugal since October 1991, a 1-0 home victory during the Euro ’92 qualifying campaign. Since then there have been five victories for Portugal and three draws. There are more than just a few people dressed in orange hoping to see that statistic wiped away today.
Commentary
More…