By Myles Palmer
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CAN BIG PHIL win Euro 2004 two years after winning the World Cup?
Can Portugal beat Holland, then beat Czech Republic – or Greece ?
We all think it will be the Czechs, but then we all thought a lot of things before this tournament started.
Most of what we thought has gone up in smoke.
Personally, I find Dutch football decadent : arrogant players and managers guilty of cronyism, getting fat contracts for their mates.
In other words, Big Phil Scolari is my kind of guy and Dutchmen are Dutchmen.
The Dutch have a good striker who is ready and willing to do anything and everything to score and win, including diving, fouling, provoking, wrestling.
Clearly, Ruud van Nistelrooy is a far better option than Kluivert.
Kluivert divided Amsterdam four years ago.
A hero in the ghetto, but not in the city.
Since Kluivert missed those five chances in the semi in France 98, against Brazil, I have not rated him.
Too much too young.
Ajax academy as a kid, told you are the best centre forward in the world, European Cup as a teenager, killed a theatre director in a late night car accident, but escaped prison.
A good-looking millionaire who wears leather trousers and owns a nightclub in Barcelona.
One thing Advocaat has got right : Kluivert is the only player he has not used so far in Euro 2004.
ROBBEN CROSSES for van Nistelrooy, from the left, just as Beckham used to cross for him from teh right.
Robben is a good technician, can use both feet, and is improving with each game.
In a 4-3-3, with a high-powered, mobile, agile striker to aim at, Robben is efficient.
On the other wing, Andy van der Meyde is bang average.
Like most players, he has brought his club season into the tounament.
He has had a hard time at Inter, as many do, and his game lacks the sharpness it had at Ajax.
Van der Meyde is nothing special and I dont believe he will trouble Nuno Valente or Portugal.
THE DECISIVE ENCOUNTER is in the middle where van Nistelrooy will pull Andrade and Carvalho around, with his movement, with his arms, with his verbals.
Ruud is 28 on July 1st, the centrebacks are young and raw and can be caught out of position.
That is where the game will be won and lost.
If Robben is buzzing, and RVN is getting into scoring positions, it could be goodnight to Big Phil, Figo, Deco and his green-shorted jogadores.
I hope that does not happen. Having reached the last four, Portugal have been liberated from the fear of flopping.
They would love to win it, they know they will never have a better chance.
It’s first chance and last chance for all of them.
Man for man they will want it more than the Dutch.
And Scolari is a far better coach than Advocaat.
DECO IS DUE A GOAL.
I’m expecting him to score.
Costinha has been far from his best. Maybe he can improve.
Cristiano Ronaldo, or Figo, could destroy Van Bronckhorst.
If it’s very tight, tactical changes may be made.
Big Phil played 3-4-3 in the World Cup and knows the weaknesses of that system.
It was a good system when Ajax had Bergkamp or Litmanen at the front of the diamond.
It was a good system when Ronaldo could score with three out of five shots.
It was a great system when he had Ronaldinho, who could create from nothing with an explosive burst and a killer pass.
Players make systems successful, but only if the system flatters them, allows them to do what they do best.
Probable teams:
PORTUGAL(4-3-3): 1-Ricardo; 13-Miguel, 16-Ricardo Carvalho, 4-Jorge Andrade,14-Nuno Valente; 6-Costinha, 18-Maniche, 20-Deco; 7-Luis Figo, 17-Cristiano Ronaldo, 21-Nuno Gomes
HOLLAND (4-3-3): 1-Edwin van der Sar; 2-Michael Reiziger, 4-Wilfred Bouma, 3-Jaap Stam, 5-Giovanni van Bronckhorst; 20-Clarence Seedorf, 8-Edgar Davids, 6-Philip Cocu; 7-Andy van der Meyde, 10-Ruud van Nistelrooy, 19-Arjen Robben
Referee: Anders Frisk (Sweden)
29th June 2004.