Six of the best to call time after Dutch defeat

The Dutch dream of winning a second European Championship ended on a hot summer night in the Portuguese capital on Wednesday, bringing down the curtain on the international careers of six long-serving players.

Skipper Frank De Boer, keeper Edwin van der Sar, defender Jaap Stam, winger Marc Overmars and midfielder Paul Bosvelt had announced they would quit the team after the Euro 2004 campaign, brought to a close by Portugal's 2-1 semi-final win.

Striker Pierre van Hooijdonk, who is now 34 and the oldest member of the squad, is almost certain to call it a day.

De Boer knew he had almost certainly played his last international against Sweden in the quarter-final when he came off after 35 minutes with an ankle injury and failed to recover.

Frank joins his twin brother Ronald on the sidelines after 14 years in the orange jersey. His international peak came in 1998 as captain of the terrific side that reached the World Cup semi-finals.

Van der Sar said after they won that match 5-4 in a penalty shootout that if the Dutch had lost, it would have been his last game for the national team.

The 33-year-old is second on his country's all-time list of international appearances with 89 caps behind De Boer's 112.

Van der Sar has been first choice for the Netherlands since Guus Hiddink sang his praises after he won the Champions League with Ajax Amsterdam in 1995.

The tallest player in the Dutch squad, he has played in four major tournaments and been eliminated three times in a shootout.

Stam, who turns 32 on July 17, said before the tournament he wanted to focus on his new team AC Milan and his family.

The defender made his debut in 1996 and played 67 matches for the Dutch, playing at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.

Overmars, 31, has played for his country since 1993 and, despite missing a number of matches through injury, has 86 caps.

Overmars said before Euro 2004 that it was time for the older players to make way for the country's talented youngsters.

Reserve midfielder Bosvelt, who joined the squad after Mark van Bommel dropped out with an Achilles tendon injury, also made it clear that this tournament would be his last after 24 caps.

Van Hooijdonk has played 41 matches for the Dutch team and scored 12 goals. The tall striker has been the ideal man to bring off the bench and also a natural leader off the pitch.