Portugal coach Paulo Bento said he was proud of his players after yesterday’s 2-1 win against Holland. The win ensured that Portugal finished the 'group of death' as runners-up and would advance to the final eight.

“We brilliantly achieved what we had to do, mostly due to the fact that we played as a team in these 3 games,” said Bento.

According to the coach, if we don’t include the first 12 minutes, Portugal played the best game of the series. “We remained true to our philosophy and we can be proud of that. We have always been able to correctly respond to challenges and have never given up,” said Bento.

The coach doesn’t see his team as favourites in their upcoming match with the Czechs. He says they must continue to play in the same style and exhibit the same level of play. If they do, he says they have a chance of making it to the semi finals.

Holland coach Bert van Marwijk, whose team is out of the running after yesterday’s loss, said his side started to exhibit a lack of confidence after their loss to Denmark.

Marwijk said his team played unsteadily after each goal scored against it.

The Dutch coach stated that he was ultimately responsible for Holland’s defeat at Euro 2012.

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