Van Breukelen has faith in Netherlands

Former Netherlands international Hans van Breukelen has refused to write off his country’s chances of winning the Euro 2012 title.

Bert van Marwijk’s side head into their final group match against Portugal on the brink of elimination after losing their first two games against Denmark and Germany.

And van Breukelen, who represented his country between 1980 and 1992, is surprised to see his compatriots in such difficulty, but still thinks that they can go all the way in Poland and Ukraine.

“I see this team with very big names and it is hard to accept that they do not have a single point,” the 55-year-old told Maisfutebol.

“If they progress, I believe in the European title. There is too much talent for the team not to go through. I do not know what is going on at this European Championship. Perhaps there is some sort of battle of egos.”

“Portugal are favourites because a draw should be enough for them. It is hard to make predictions for such a close match.”

The former Nottingham Forest and PSV custodian played a key role in Netherlands’ title-winning campaign at Euro 1988, in which they defeated Soviet Union 2-0 in the final.

“I’ve thought about that tournament many times, of course,” Van Breukelen said.

“We had an outstanding campaign.

“We were far from favourites and we left the tournament as heroes.

“We were a family. Even with players like Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit, the team was the priority, not individual talent.”

In order to progress, Netherlands will have to defeat Portugal by more than one goal and hope that Germany beat Denmark in the other Group B contest.