Season › 2011-12 › News Heitinga dropped for Dutch defeat Michael Kenrick , 17 June, 9comments | Jump to most recent Johnny Heitinga was dropped by coach Van Marwijk as Holland lost their vital crunch match against Portugal tonight in Euro2012 and were eliminated from the tournament with an unprecedented three straight defeats. The Netherlands, sitting bottom of Group B at the start of play, needed to win by two clear goals — and Germany to beat Denmark — in order to stand any chance of progressing to the quarter finals. Germany did their part, winning 2-1 in the other game, but though the Dutch took the lead with a beautiful strike by Rafael van der Vaart, their 11th-minute goal merely roused Portugal from their early defensive posture. Breaking with lightning speed against a flat-footed Holland defence, the Portuguese turned the game on its head with two goals by Cristiano Ronaldo. And the Real Madrid star could have had a hat-trick but slammed a late drive off the face of the post. Van der Vaart was also denied a late brace when his curling effort with his other foot came off the woodwork, a typical end to a miserable Euro2012 for the Oranjie. Quotes or other material sourced from None Reader Comments (9) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer Add Your Comments In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site. » Log in now Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site. About these ads