Robben hints at unrest

The Dutch went to Poland and Ukraine among the favourites to lift the trophy but failed to pick up a point in Group B, losing to Denmark, Germany and Portugal.

The future of coach Bert van Marwijk is now under scrutiny and his chances of staying in the role will not be helped by revelations of disharmony among the players.

Bayern Munich star Robben told Voetbal International: "Of course there were some internal issues but we will keep them indoors.

"But believe me we tried everything, it's just not worked."

While Dutch fans were quick to search for a scapegoat, Robben insisted it was a collective failure.

"The hunger in the team is there," he added, "but we failed together. And I mean the technical staff, the players, the whole team.

"This is the harsh reality of the sporting world.

"We must all, therefore, look in the mirror."

Captain Mark van Bommel, who was dropped for the clash with the Portuguese, admitted the atmosphere in the squad was different to that at the 2010 World Cup when Oranje made it to the final only to lose in extra-time to Spain.

The 35-year-old said: "I am captain and will always protect my players but the atmosphere was different than two years ago.

"Why that was I don't know, I can only speak for myself, not the other guys."

Things started brightly for Netherlands on a night when it had to win by two clear goals and hope Denmark lost to Germany as Rafael van der Vaart put it in front.

But Ronaldo netted a brace for Paulo Bento's men, who joined the Germans in going through following its 2-1 defeat of Denmark.

Van der Vaart said: "I knew it would be difficult. We had to score two goals. We started off really well and scored one goal, but we knew we had to score another one, so we got nervous.

"After our first goal, Portugal began to play very well, and we didn't. We all played badly; we all have to take a good, long look in the mirror. All we can say is that it's sad for our supporters.

"We lost all confidence after losing the game against Denmark, and so today against Portugal we knew it could go wrong, and so it did. We have to start all over again."