Great start: Van der Vaart

The equaliser came in the 28th minute when 18-year-old left back Jetro Willems misplaced a pass and Pereira picked out a superbly timed dash from Ronaldo.

His finishing was poor against Denmark but, with only Stekelenburg to beat, Portugal’s  captain slid the ball low into the corner.

Seconds later, he worked the Dutch keeper again with one of his trademark wobbly shots from 35 yards. Stekelenburg pushed it away but his team had no grip on the game. Ronaldo beat Van Persie to an inswinging corner and thumped a header a few inches wide and Miguel Veloso went close with a free-kick.

Van Marwijk shuffled his team at half-time. Van Persie switched to the right, Robben to the left and Sneijder was deployed in his preferred central position.

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