12 Jun 2019
If there was truly any doubt, Portugal underlined they are little more than a one-man team as Cristiano Ronaldo scored his seventh hat-trick for Portugal and his 53rd for club and country in the 3-1 UEFA Nations League semi-final win over Switzerland on Wednesday.
The Juventus striker was the difference-maker against a Swiss side that created more chances. Portugal had four shots and scored three times.
At 33, Ronaldo may be past his best, but he was certainly at his most clinical, opening the scoring 350 days after his last international goal, with a free-kick that goalkeeper Yann Sommer could only watch. Two of his past five goals for Portugal have come from direct free-kicks, while only two of his previous 52 goals prior to this were scored in the same manner.
He added two more, latching on to David Silva’s cross to put them 2-1 ahead and then creating something from nothing with a shimmy and step-over before firing a third.
It means that Portugal enter Sunday’s final on a run that has seen them lose just once in 16 games across all competitions (W6 D9) since a 2-1 defeat against Uruguay in the 2018 World Cup.
England were defeated 3-1 after extra-time by the Netherlands in the second semi-final in Guimaraes on Thursday evening.
Marcus Rashford put England in front from the penalty spot in the 32nd-minute after the Manchester United was brought down by Mathhijs de Ligt, only for the 19-year-old Ajax captain to redeem himself and rise above Kyle Walker to thump a header home from a corner in the 73rd minute.
The Dutch sealed the deal in the seventh minute of extra time when Qincey Promes’ shot, which was going wide, looped off Walker and over the head of keeper Jordan Pickford.
And for good measure, another defensive error allowed Memphis Depay to cut the ball back for Promes to register his second in the 114th minute.
Whatever the outcome, the Netherlands have had a tougher route to the final than Portugal, who cruised through their Group, which contained Italy and Poland.
The Dutch downed Germany and France in the Group stages, twice coming from 2-0 down against Germany in their final match to secure the point they needed with two very late goals.
The Netherlands are 11/10 to lift the trophy, while Portugal are on offer at 8/11.
TOP TRENDS FOR PORTUGAL v NETHERLANDS
Portugal have a good record against the Dutch, winning seven of their 11 previous meetings and losing just twice. Fernando Santos’ side are 7/5 to win in 90 minutes.
Their last meeting, a friendly played in Geneva in March last year, saw the Netherlands win 3-0 and gain their first victory over Portugal since 1991. It was only the third time in those 11 meetings that Portugal failed to score at least once. The Netherlands are 2/1 to win in 90 minutes.
Goals have been fairly scarce when these two have met, with just five of the 11 previous meetings seeing both sides score. It is 4/5 that each team registers in the final.
Four of the previous 11 meetings have ended in a stalemate and it is 9/4 that Sunday’s clash will end all-square after 90 minutes.
Likewise, only four of their clashes have yielded three goals or more and it is 21/20 that over 2.5 goals will be scored this time.
While Ronaldo is 16/5 to score the first goal and 23/20 to score at any time, Depay (above) is equally influential for the Dutch. He has scored six goals in six appearances for his county and is 15/8 to score at any time.
Portugal were somewhat fortunate against the Swiss. While they have the home crowd behind them, history on their side and an extra day’s rest than their opponents, who also had to play an extra 30 minutes, there will be plenty who will support the Dutch.
The Genting Casino football odds have the Netherlands at 12/1 to win 2-0 and 15/4 to win to nil, but it may again be worth exploring the slow starts from Ronald Koeman’s side.
They have fallen behind in eight of their last 11 games, including four of their last five and Portugal are 10/11 to score the first goal in the final.
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