Portugal vs. Netherlands: Assessing the Key Battles in Group of Death

Portugal confirmed their status as dark-horse contenders at Euro 2012 on Sunday with a 2-1 win against the Netherlands, which condemned the Dutch to their first winless European Championship in history.

The Netherlands once again failed to fire their high-priced guns, with Robin van Persie and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar strangely quiet up front, save for a few glaring misses from both.

Huntelaar sent a straightforward right-footed volley sizzling past the post with Van Persie available for a tap-in, while the Arsenal striker also missed a sitter after Wesley Sneijder played him in behind the back line.

Having said that, there was one player at his considerable best.

After enduring rampant criticism throughout Portugal's first two games, Cristiano Ronaldo was sensational on Sunday, scoring both goals and twice hitting the woodwork.

It was a statement of intent from the Real Madrid winger, who made his debut in this competition as a relatively green 19-year-old in 2004.

That year, the Championships were in his home country, and he was coming off a debut season with Manchester United in which he'd shown glimpses of potential but few instances of consistency.

On Saturday, his evolution at the international level—stunted for so long—came full circle. Ronaldo was unstoppable on the flanks. What's more, he was joined by several of his teammates. Nani and Joao Moutinho, in particular, had terrific a game.

Here are some of the most interesting matchups from the Group B decider.

Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Gregory van der Wiel

For Ronaldo's second goal, Gregory van der Wiel was actually in the near vicinity.

The strike, which came from a delightful cross from Nani, skipped across two Dutch defenders and into the path of the Madrid forward. Ronaldo calmly collected the ball with his left foot, touched it back onto his right and smashed a low drive past Maarten Stekelenburg.

The Ajax right-back lost his footing when Ronaldo moved the ball back onto his right, and the slow-motion replay showed Van der Wiel in a state of pure helplessness as he watched Ronaldo line up what was bound to be a goal.

Eventually, he turned his gaze away, preferring instead to look at the turf to his left than his opponent net his brace.

It was a theme seen throughout the Portuguese victory.

Van der Wiel has been linked with a host of potential transfers this summer—Chelsea have emerged as a potential destination—but the young defender looked well off the pace on Sunday.

It's safe to say that some of those teams, who were once so keen on signing him, might now have second thoughts.

Van der Wiel looked hesitant to engage Ronaldo, and allowed him far too much space on the left flank, which the forward was only too happy to exploit.

Rafael van der Vaart vs. Joao Moutinho and Raul Meireles

One of the rare bright lights offensively for the Netherlands, Rafael van der Vaart was actually quite good when allowed to get forward.

The Dutchman's contribution was best encapsulated by his sensational left-footed curling effort from 25 yards out that nestled snugly in the far corner of the goal to open the scoring for the Netherlands,

The problem was, his offensive production came at the expense of defensive cohesiveness and attentiveness in central midfield, which is not Van der Vaart's specialty.

His partner, Nigel de Jong, was forced to sit deep and protect while he ventured forward, but even that tacit understanding could not undo what was a terrific performance from Joao Moutinho.

Long linked with a move to some of the higher-profile Premiership sides, Moutinho was transcendent on Sunday. He calmly distributed and looked dangerous when he got forward.

He didn't hit the highs of Van der Vaart, who also hit the post with a right-footed curler late in the second half, but Moutinho contributed to a far more cohesive Portuguese effort.

Bruno Alves and Pepe vs. Robin van Persie and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar

After a season in which he was positively transcendent for Arsenal, grabbing 30 league goals and 37 overall, Robin van Persie came crashing back to earth in a big way during the Netherlands' dreary European Championship campaign.

Three losses and one Van Persie goal (albeit a sensational solo effort against the Germans) will go down as one of the few forgettable passages in what has been a brilliant run of some 18 months for the Arsenal No. 10.

He was joined in his profligacy by fellow striker Huntelaar. Fans and journalists had clamored for the Schalke forward to start, in some cases even ahead of Van Persie in the lone striker role of the 4-2-3-1 formation favored by Bert van Marwijk.

However, even Huntelaar, who provided 29 league goals for Schalke this past season (and far more when all competitions are taken into account) was terribly poor on Sunday.

His pass completion rate, once the final whistle had gone, hovered at an abysmal 60 percent and he had not created a single goal-scoring opportunity.

Some may argue that he's strictly a finisher. However, when a gilt-edged chance did fall to Huntelaar, he hammered his right-footed volley past the left-hand post from 10 yards out.

With 59 league goals between them, the Dutch duo could only muster two glaring misses.

It was a credit to the Portuguese defensive scheme, and the work rate of Bruno Alves and Pepe, that the two forwards were held so thoroughly in check.

Van Persie was a peripheral figure for most of the game, needing to drop deeper and deeper into midfield to have any touch on the ball. Huntelaar didn't even do that, and looked listless in attack instead.

That's exactly what Holland were on the day—a bunch of talented individuals who looked like they only wished to end this nightmare tournament and go on home.