Van der Sar ´in shock´ as Netherlands crash

Dutch legend Edwin van der Sar says he is in a state of shock after watching Netherlands fail to qualify for the Euro 2012 quarter-finals.

Netherlands lost 2-1 to Portugal in their final Group B match on Sunday, meaning they failed to win a single game at the championships in Poland and Ukraine.

Bert van Marwijk’s team made the best possible start to the game when Rafael van der Vaart curled in a delightful opener after just 11 minutes, but Portugal responded in style with star-man Cristiano Ronaldo netting a goal in each half to dump Netherlands out of the competition.

“I’m in shock,” Van der Sar told RCTI.

“We had it coming. It was seen in the build up to the tournament. We were missing one or two players, some just returning from injury.

“Then during the tournament, different parts of the team didn’t function together.”

Van der Sar, who made 130 appearances for the Netherlands during glittering international career spanning 14 years, also believes there will have to be some changes made to the national team if the Dutch are to be a successful outfit in the future.

Captain Mark van Bommel was dropped by Van Marwijk for the game against Portugal and the former Manchester United goalkeeper believes the AC Milan’s international career may be over.

“I think it’s over for Mark van Bommel in the national team,” he admitted.

“There will be one or two changes in this team.

“It’s a disappointing result for us after what has been achieved in the past few years.

“I think [Maarten] Stekelenburg did well, but our overall performance in the second half was below expectations.”