We didn't start well or play like we did in the first three games. I don't know why that was, maybe it was nerves. We tried something different in the second half with [Robin] van Persie playing further forward instead of having [Dirk] Kuyt playing a bit deeper. Russia played well – their attackers, Arshavin and [Roman] Pavlyuchenko, were always threatening and that was the reason we didn't come into the game. We tried everything and we got to 1-1 which gave us hope. We had to change Khalid Boulahrouz because he wasn't good enough physically. We had problems physically.
The players couldn't give any more and the Russians in the final moments were stronger. In the end we couldn't hold on any more and they scored two goals and deserved their victory.
I wish them good luck in the last part of the tournament. I told them that they played very well. They are in the last four so they have a great chance. The way they play is good and they have good strikers and defenders. [Looking back on the tournament] we played good football in the group stage but we went into this game and didn't play. It's amazing we were able to keep it at 0-0 for such a long time. In the end you always take part to win and the group stage is important, but today we didn't have a good day. They played last Wednesday while most of our players have had a week to prepare, so you think physically we are more in shape than the Russians but we didn't see that today.
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