Mayhem at Nuremberg
With a record 16 bookings, 4 red cards coupled with a high paced drama , the nerve gripping encounter between Portugal and Netherlands could well be remembered in football history as the battle of Nuremberg thanks to some highly passionate and an extremely physical display of sorts by the two teams.
Netherlands in a effort to forget the reminiscences of their loss to Portugal in Euro Cup 2004 were forced to bear the brunt for a second consecutive time with Maniche back to haunt the Dutch scoring off a thriller hammering the ball to the top corner 16 yards off the post.
It was utter pandemonium at Nuremberg for the reminder of the 70 odd minutes with player after player being warned with yellows , and Russian refree Valentin Ivanov in a desperate attempt to ensure fair play booking players cheaply for offence which only fetched him a strict vote of no confidence by the players, the coaches and the FIFA President himself.
With less than a third of the Portueguese on field being spared of bookings, Deco and Costinha finding themselves back in the dressing room by the middle of the second half, things were not prettier for the Dutch either with Van Bommel, Sneijder and Van der Vaart being issued yellow cards Boulahrouz and Van Bronkhorst doing the rituals with their reds for Holland.
Looked like the days of war like Copa American football had descended down in Germany with the crowds extremely defiant of the proceedings.
