The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder expressed utter disappointment following his side’s 2-1 loss to Portugal, and confessed that the Oranje performed far from their best at Euro 2012.
Rafael van der Vaart was extremely disappointed following Netherlands’ 2-1 loss at the hands of Portugal that knocked his side out of Euro 2012, and boldly confessed that the Oranje performed far from their best throughout the
competition.
The Flying Dutchmen headed into the European Championship as one of the favourites to go all the way to lift the trophy. However, the 2010 World Cup runners-up deceived their fans with erratic showings, and now head home on the
back of three defeats in a row.
Van der Vaart, who has thus far donned the jersey of the Oranje in 99 matches, admitted that his side never played to its potential in any of their Group B fixture.
“We were not good enough this tournament. It was just a very poor performance by us. That's why we didn't deserve to go through”, the Tottenham Hotspur star was quoted as saying to NOS.nl.
Following their two successive defeats against Denmark and Germany, the Oranje needed a win by at least a two-goal margin against Portugal. They started brightly in Kharkiv, as Van der Vaart broke the deadlock in the 11th
minute.
The Navigators, however, dominated proceedings after going 1-0 down, and mounted immense pressure on the Flying Dutchmen’s back-line throughout the remaining action of the match. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the equaliser in the 28th
minute, and managed to net the winner sixteen minutes before the full-time whistle.
Van der Vaart was all praise for A Seleccao, and admitted that they played better throughout the 90 minutes.
“After the loss against Denmark, we knew it's going to be difficult, because we have to face two teams. Now we have to start all over again. We knew it's going to be a tough match against Portugal. After our goal they were the
better team. We were very poor. It's very disappointing, especially for the Dutch fans”, the talented midfielder concluded.
Portugal will meet Czech Republic while the Group B winner, Germany, will take on Greece in the quarter-finals.