17 years on from the toughest game in World Cup history, Ronaldo takes it with a substitution in the first half

When the World Cup semi-final between the Netherlands and Portugal kicked off in June 2006, few knew that it would go down in history as one of the toughest matches in football history. The record four red cards were far from the only ones.

The 2006 World Cup semi-final match in Germany was heated from the first minutes. The Dutch set the fierce atmosphere, seeing two yellow cards in the first seven minutes. Nowadays, the interventions of Mark van Bommel and Khalid Boulahrouze would have been possible for outright exclusions.

In any case, the Portuguese went ahead in the 23rd minute thanks to Maniche, who was also already playing under a yellow warning. A penalty could have been taken at the other end, but Arjen Robben’s kick to the chest was negated by an offside.

Still, the Portuguese did not finish the half with full numbers. Costinha saw his first yellow for a harsh tackle in the 31st minute, the second was forgiven by the referee seven minutes later for a tackle on his ankle, yet the defensive midfielder went to the showers in the 45th minute after an unnecessary deliberate handball in the middle of the pitch.

It is also important to mention that Cristiano Ronaldo was injured in the 34th minute after two interventions and had to be substituted.

The Dutch pressed, the Portuguese were forced to foul at the cost of a yellow, but the gift was given to them in the 62nd minute, who unnecessarily swung his arm during one of the sprinters’ duels and equalised after a second card.

Nevertheless, the Tulips pressed on and were again outnumbered in the 78th minute. Deco was issued two cards within a five-minute span, the second for holding up play. In all, the final 20 minutes offered seven yellows.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s nerves were frayed in the set-up, and he became the fourth player sent off for the second card. The tackle made the match a record for the most sending offs, and secured Portugal’s promotion.

Leaving aside the second yellow, 12 players were cautioned in the match. The World Cup record in this respect is the Netherlands’ match against Argentina (2:3pp) from last December’s championship in Qatar.

Source: World Cup 2006 in Germany