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Dutch beat sweden to reach Euro 2004 semis The Netherlands reached the semifinals of the European Championships, defeating Sweden 5-4 on penalty kicks Saturday and avoiding the fate that has claimed a host of soccer powers.
They will next face host Portugal on Wednesday. The other semifinal is Thursday between Greece and the winner of Sunday's game between the Czech Republic and Denmark.
Five of Europe's strongest teams have been eliminated: defending champion France, Spain, Italy, England and Germany. The final is July 4 in Lisbon.
Sweden was trying to reach the semifinals for the first time since 1992 when it was the tournament host. The Dutch were in the semifinals four years ago at home.
Olof Mellberg failed to convert the decisive penalty kick for Sweden when his shot was saved by goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar. Arjen Robben then clinched victory for the Dutch.
Robben got close to scoring in the third minute of overtime but his low shot was fumbled by Swedish goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson onto the post and Roy Makaay was unable to get to the rebound.
In the 16th minute, Isaksson was forced to make an acrobatic one-handed save on Seedorf's free kick from 20 yards. At the other end, Henrik Larsson's shot hit the crossbar and Fredrik Ljungberg's rocket bounced off the post of Van der Sar's goal.
In other Euro 2004 news:
_England's Wayne Rooney will need about two months to recover from a broken right foot and probably will miss the start of the season for Everton in the Premier League. The 18-year-old forward scored four goals in the tournament.
_Swiss referee Urs Meier defended his decision to disallow England's goal in the 90th minute of its quarterfinal loss to Portugal, saying it followed an "obvious" foul on the goalkeeper. Meier said he has received 16,000 e-mails — some threatening — after an English newspaper published his Internet address.
_Greece's upset of France prompted thousands of flag-waving fans to gather in Athens' Omonia Square minutes after the game. Fireworks lit the sky over the Acropolis and other monuments. "Europe is too small for Greece," wrote the Ethnos newspaper. "Gods," said a front-page headline in Adesmeftos Typos. |
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