EURO 2004/Portugal v Holland/Reaction: It wasn't exactly your average post-match press conference. For a start, when UEFA designated man of the match Luis Figo walked in, he was greeted with warm applause from the normally cynical hacks.
Secondly, when Portugal's Brazilian coach, Felipe "Big Phil" Scolari walked in, he turned to the press gallery and raised a winner's clenched fist, again prompting applause. Needless to say there were plenty of Portuguese amongst the press corps.
It was an emotional night for Scolari, Figo and Portugal. The Real Madrid star made no pretence of hiding his feelings, saying: "This is a great moment for all Portugal, an historic moment for our country. We've done something not done by any other Portuguese team, we've got to a final . . .
"It was a very physical game for both teams. We played a terrific first half but in the second half we should have killed off the game. We had our chances but we were struggling a bit towards the end."
Figo is, of course, not just the team captain and a national idol, he is also the foremost member of that 1991 under-20 World Cup winning side responsible for the most overused cliché at these championships, namely the "Golden Generation".
That cliché, however, is set to run and run as even Figo waxed lyrical about that under-2O team, saying: "It's difficult to describe my emotions, I have been trying to do this since 1991, when I won the under-20 World Cup in the Stadium of Light here in Lisbon all of 13 years ago. It is very difficult to describe right now what this means for my country, for the team, for the players, but I can tell you it is really important."
Scolari too, paid homage to the remnants of the Golden Generation, saying that they had a date with destiny. "I have to congratulate this team and my players," he said. "They won the under-20 championship in 1991 in Lisbon and there are people from that time here again like Rui Costa and Luis Figo.
"This Portugal team has now made history and for me personally this is also a special day. It was two years ago that I won the World Cup in Brazil in Japan. For me this is a magical day. It's very different. When I won the World Cup with Brazil, they had won it already four times.
"For the record, this is more important to me because Portugal have never been to a final before."
Now, though comes the moment of reckoning - the Czechs or the Greeks. Which side would he like to meet in the final? "Frankly, I'd prefer that neither of them turned up and that way we would win without playing."
