News in English:
Controversial Match in Žilina: Portugal U21 Falls to Netherlands U21 Despite Dominance
In a tense match played at the Štadión Pod Dubňom in Žilina, Portugal U21 suffered a defeat against Netherlands U21 in the quarter-finals of the UEFA U21 Championship. Georgian referee Goga Kikacheishvili had a busy afternoon, showing a total of seven yellow cards and one red card.
The match was marked by the early expulsion of R. van Bommel in the 21st minute, leaving the Netherlands with one less player. Despite the disadvantage, and with overwhelming ball possession in favor of Portugal (74%), the Portuguese team failed to translate its dominance into goals. G. Quenda missed a penalty in the 31st minute, although he immediately redeemed himself and scored to put Portugal ahead.
The Netherlands, with only 26% possession and a clear numerical disadvantage, fell back and looked for the counterattack. Finally, E. Poku equalized in the 84th minute, after an assist from I. Maatsen, sealing the fate of the match. Portugal tried to react, but the Dutch defense remained firm. The match concluded with a surprising victory for the Netherlands, despite the statistics being largely in favor of Portugal (17 shots against 4, 11 corners against 2). Dutch discipline and effectiveness at key moments were decisive for the final result.
Substitutions portugal u21: at minute 46 H. Araujo came in and T. Tomas went out., at minute 63 C. Forbs came in and P. Bernardo went out., at minute 80 P. Santos came in and M. Fernandes went out., at minute 80 J. Marques came in and G. Sa went out., at minute 87 R. Gomes came in and R. Pinheiro went out.
Substitutions netherlands u21: at minute 53 B. Meijer came in and L. Valente went out., at minute 79 E. Poku came in and M. Manhoef went out., at minute 90 N. Ohio came in and T. van Bergen went out.
The teams lined up as follows:
Portugal U21
Titulares:
Netherlands U21
Titulares:
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