Portugal take courage from Dutch record

Portugal will look to maintain an unbeaten record against the Netherlands that stretches back more than 20 years when the teams meet in their final UEFA EURO 2012 Group B fixture.

• Portugal revived their qualification hopes on matchday two, when they followed a 1-0 defeat by Germany with a gripping 3-2 victory against Denmark, Silvestre Varela scoring an 87th-minute winner. The Dutch, however, are on bottom of the section having lost to Denmark (0-1) and Germany (1-2).

• The Netherlands must win by a two-goal margin and hope Denmark lose to Germany in Lviv. Portugal will be through with victory unless Denmark win by a one-goal margin other than 2-1 and 1-0. They will progress with a draw unless Denmark win. Portugal will be through if they lose by a one-goal margin and Denmark are beaten.

Head-to-head record
• Portugal have an exceptional record against the Netherlands, given the relative strength of their opponents. It reads W6 D3 L1. The teams have never scored more than twice against each other; their highest scoring fixture was a 2-2 World Cup qualifying draw in Porto on 28 March 2001.

• The sides first met in Porto on 17 October 1990 in a UEFA European Championship qualifier which Portugal won 1-0. The Netherlands prevailed by the same score in the return fixture in Rotterdam, on 16 October 1991, but have not beaten their opponents in eight encounters over the ensuing two decades, drawing three and losing five.

• The nations have twice met at major final tournaments – at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and at UEFA EURO 2004 in Portugal – with Portugal winning both fixtures.

• Under-21 sides representing the two countries met at the 2007 UEFA European U21 Championship finals in the Netherlands on 13 June 2007, with the Jong Oranje prevailing 2-1 in Groningen. Ryan Babel (33) and Maceo Rigters (75) put Foppe de Haan's team in front, before Miguel Veloso (77) replied for José Couceiro's side. The hosts went on to win the tournament.

• The Netherlands had previously landed the 2006 U21 title in Portugal, with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar the top marksman at the finals with four goals, two of them coming in the 3-0 final victory against Ukraine.

Selected previous meetings
25 June 2006: Portugal 1-0 Netherlands (Maniche 23) – Frankenstadion, Nuremberg, 2006 FIFA World Cup round of 16
Portugal: Ricardo, Nuno Valente, Ricardo Carvalho, Fernando Meira, Miguel, Maniche, Deco, Costinha, Luís Figo (Tiago 84), Pauleta (Petit 46), Cristiano Ronaldo (Simão 34).
Netherlands: Van der Sar, Van Bronckhorst, Mathijsen (Van der Vaart 56), Ooijer, Boulahrouz, Cocu (Vennegoor of Hesselink 84), Sneijder, Van Bommel (Heitinga 67), Robben, Kuyt, Van Persie.

• Eventual semi-finalists Portugal eliminated Marco van Basten's Oranje from the 2006 World Cup in the countries' most recent meeting, when both sides finished with nine men. Luiz Felipe Scolari's Portugal had Costinha (45+1) and Deco (78) dismissed, while Khalid Boulahrouz (63) and Giovanni van Bronckhorst (90+5) saw red for the Netherlands. With 16 yellow cards awarded, it was the World Cup finals' worst ever game in terms of discipline.

30 June 2004: Portugal 2-1 Netherlands (Cristiano Ronaldo 26, Maniche 56; Jorge Andrade og 63) – Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, UEFA EURO 2004 semi-finals
Portugal: Ricardo, Miguel, Jorge Andrade, Ricardo Carvalho, Nuno Valente, Cristiano Ronaldo (Petit 67), Maniche (Fernando Couto 87), Costinha, Luís Figo, Deco, Pauleta (Nuno Gomes 75).
Netherlands: Van der Sar, Reiziger, Stam, Bouma (Van der Vaart 56), Van Bronckhorst, Davids, Seedorf, Cocu, Overmars (Makaay 46), Van Nistelrooy, Robben (Van Hooijdonk 81).

• Scolari's Portugal reached the final with this victory in Lisbon. Maniche's splendid stike proved decisive, even if Jorge Andrade's subsequent inadvertent conversion of a Van Bronckhorst cross gave Dick Advocaat's Oranje hope.

16 October 1991: Netherlands 1-0 Portugal (Witschge 20) – De Kuip, Rotterdam, EURO '92 qualifying
Netherlands: Van Breukelen, Blind, Van Tiggelen, R Koeman, E Koeman, Wouters, Rijkaard (Winter 74), Bergkamp, Van Basten, Gullit, Witschge (Van't Schip 87).
Portugal: Vítor Baía, João Pinto, José Leal, Pedro Venâncio, Fernando Couto, Emilio Peixe (Cesar Dualte 80), Oceano, Rui Barros, Jorge Cadete, Paulo Futre, Nelo (Luís Figo 56).

• The Netherlands' only win to date against Portugal came in this qualifier in Rotterdam, with midfielder Richard Witschge hitting the only goal for Rinus Michels' men – his sole international strike in 31 appearances. Carlos Queiroz's side would miss out on the final tournament.

Form guide
• Having made their debut at the 1984 finals, Portugal have featured at every UEFA European Championship since EURO '96, and have never failed to progress beyond the group stage, famously reaching the final on home soil at UEFA EURO 2004 but losing to outsiders Greece.

• The Netherlands have missed just one EURO since they picked up bronze medals on their finals debut in 1976, missing the cut for the 1984 finals. Since winning the competition in 1988, they have never failed to progress beyond the group stage, though they have also not reached the final since.

Team ties
• Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder made their Netherlands debuts in a 1-1 friendly draw against Portugal in Eindhoven on 30 April 2003.

• The Netherlands' Rafael van der Vaart played alongside Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe at Real Madrid CF in 2009/10. In 2008/09, Pepe played with Sneijder, Huntelaar, Robben and Van der Vaart at Madrid.

• Stijn Schaars plays at Sporting Clube de Portugal alongside Rui Patrício and João Pereira.

• The Netherlands' Dirk Kuyt and Portugal's Raul Meireles were team-mates at Liverpool FC in 2010/11. Kuyt scored Liverpool's equaliser in a 1-1 UEFA Champions League group stage draw at Porto on 18 September 2007, and also hit the opener in the Reds' 4-1 win against SL Benfica in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals on 8 April 2010.

• Ricardo Quaresma and Sneijder played together at FC Internazionale Milano in 2009/10, helping to win the UEFA Champions League and an Italian double under Portuguese coach José Mourinho.

• Robin van Persie scored twice in Arsenal FC's 4-0 home win against FC Porto on 30 September 2008.

• Mark van Bommel was one of the scorers in FC Bayern München's huge 12-1 aggregate win against Sporting in the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League round of 16.

• As Sporting eliminated FC Twente on away goals in the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, goalkeeper Rui Patrício came up for a late corner, and his header was deflected in by Peter Wisgerhof. The 1-1 draw gave the Lisbon side – who also featured Veloso, João Moutinho and Postiga – an away-goals success.

• Ron Vlaar's AZ Alkmaar lost to Sporting in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup semi-finals, João Moutinho setting up Miguel Garcia to make it 3-2 late in extra time and take Sporting through. Custódio also appeared for the Lisbon club.

• Meireles missed last month's UEFA Champions League final through suspension as his Chelsea FC side overcame FC Bayern München, for whom Robben missed an extra-time penalty, to win the trophy for the first time.

Competition format
• If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings:
a) Higher number of points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question;
b) Superior goal difference resulting from the matches played between the teams in question;
c) Higher number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question;
d) If, after having applied criteria a) to c), two teams still have an equal ranking, criteria a) to c) are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the two teams in question to determine the final rankings of the two teams. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria e) to i) apply in the order given;
e) superior goal difference in all group matches;
f) higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
g) position in the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system (see annex I, paragraph 1.2.2);
h) fair play conduct of the teams (final tournament);
i) drawing of lots

• The Group B coefficients are as follows:
Netherlands 40.860
Germany 40.446
Portugal 31.717
Denmark 31.205

• If two teams which have the same number of points, the same number of goals scored and conceded play their last group match against each other and are still equal at the end of that match, the ranking of the two teams in question is determined by kicks from the penalty mark provided no other teams within the group have the same number of points on completion of all group matches. Should more than two teams have the same number of points, the criteria listed under paragraph 8.07 apply.