Kuyt: Morale is low

Dirk Kuyt has spoken of the Netherlands disappointment after his country were beaten 2-1 by Germany in Euro 2012.

The World Cup finalists stand on the brink of elimination after the defeat followed a shock 1-0 reverse to unfancied Denmark, leaving them needing a two-goal victory over Portugal and a win to Joachim Loew’s side on Sunday.

The Fenerbahce-bound forward conceded morale is low in the Dutch camp, but urged his team-mates to deliver the goods against the Portuguese.

“Everyone was very disappointed afterwards,” he told Algemeen Dagblad. “We had a different start to this tournament in mind.

“We must now deliver a top performance against Portugal. If Germany do their job, then we can still progress to the next round.”

During both of their matches in the tournament to date, the Dutch squandered a number of chances, and Kuyt went on to acknowledged the misses had proved costly.

“We got two good opportunities, but then their (Germany’s) first chance was an instant goal. We really had to continue in the same footing, but we couldn’t,” he said.

“We then went all out in our play, and Robin (van Persie) scored a beautiful goal. But they were dangerous on the counter. If we had been more compact, we could have helped each other more.”