Van Nistelrooy started in all of Holland’s three group games where he scored only once and was substituted three times, and after his mediocre performances Van Basten may opt to start with Feyenoord striker Dirk Kuyt against Portugal.

“The central position up front is a point of discussion and the chance that Kuyt will start on Sunday has increased,” Van Basten was quoted as saying by BBC on Thursday.

Van Nistelrooy has been out during the last two months of the season with Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson preferring to field Louis Saha in his place, but Van Basten’s patience might be over with the former PSV star.

“We might expect more from Ruud, he has to play a bigger role in our attack,” Van Basten added.

“It’s not nice for him to be replaced but we didn’t talk about it, Ruud will understand that if you play well you don’t get substituted.”