Van den Berg's stock is rising as Boro face fight to keep Dutch star

MIDDLESBROUGH defender Rav van den Berg appears to have caught the eye at this summer's Under-21 European Championships - with scouts watching closely and one for mer teammate calling his attributes "a gift from mother nature".

- By CRAIG JOHNS

Van den Berg helped Netherlands U21s reach the semifinal of the tournament where they were beaten by eventual winners England, in a game which saw Van den Berg reunited with his Boro teammate Hayden Hackney.

The pair said they'd joked about coming up against one another beforehand, and they were seen to embrace one another in respectful scenes at full-time.

After a shaky start, Van den Berg impressed in that defeat to England in what was his third appearance of the tourna ment.

He was unused in the first two games and watched on his side drew 2-2 with Finland and then lost 2-1 to Denmark.

Introduced for the final group stage game, Netherlands beat Ukraine 2-0 to qualify and then kept a second clean sheet in beating Portugal 1-0 in the quarterfinals to set up the clash with Lee Carsley's Young Lions.

Asked after that quarterfinal win about his impact, with two clean sheets in two games from his introduction, a modest Van den Berg told ESPN: "I don't want to say that it's my fault. Maybe it's because we're a bit more defensive, but we're good."