Portugal - 1 Greece - 2: Life is that little bit sweeter at this sort of event when the hosts are going well and their supporters are in good humour. Still, if any neutrals were tempted to complain that some of the sparkle had been taken off their first weekend in Portugal by the national team's surprise defeat on Saturday, they need only have paused a moment to think of how the side's Brazilian coach was feeling to restore their sense of perspective.

In the wake of this defeat, Luiz Felipe Scolari described Portugal's next match, against Russia on Wednesday, as having become "a life-and-death affair". A tad melodramatic, perhaps, but the outcome could certainly be career changing for "Big Phil", who is certain to be for the high jump if the fortunes of his players don't dramatically improve.

Assuming they win that match, they will almost certainly have to repeat the trick against the Spanish, whom they have beaten only four times in 31 meetings, if they are to progress. And not even two victories would now guarantee Figo and co their places in the last eight.

The scale of the disappointment here is understandable given the statistics. Of seven previous nations to play host to all or part of this tournament since the current format was adopted in 1980, only Belgium four years ago had ever lost a game in the group stages, and in their three earlier appearances the Portuguese had never been beaten before the knock-out phase.

The Greeks, meanwhile, came into this game without a win in six attempts at major championships.

"This victory doesn't make us some great soccer power," conceded euphoric Greek defender Mihalis Kapsis, "but it shows that we didn't get here by chance."

Coach Otto Rehhagel, meanwhile, hailed his own tactics as much as his players, but to be fair both did contribute a good deal to a fine victory.

So too did the performance of the locals. Conceding a goal at the start of the first half left the Portuguese with ground to make up, but when they repeated the blunder after the break it was more like a mountain to climb, and by then it had already become abundantly apparent the hosts had come neither equipped nor mentally prepared to scale any heights.

Their inability to cause the Greeks real problems in the final third of the pitch had been a problem from the outset, and the seriousness of the situation steadily mounted from the moment Paulo "It's a lot of money for a full-back but those who have seen me play can testify that I'm worth it" Ferreira passed the ball straight to Georgios Karagounis, who accepted the gift and fired low past Ricardo from a little over 20 metres out.

Through the remainder of the half the Greeks got men behind the ball but always looked dangerous on the break. Angelos Charisteas went close for Rehhagel's side midway through the half with a powerful, eight-yard header that flew just over the bar.

The locals, on the other hand, enjoyed plenty of possession but were repeatedly frustrated by the solid defending of players like Georgios Seitaridis, set to replace Ferreira at Porto, and Traianos Dellas, who were never rattled by the trickery of the Portuguese around the edge of their box.

The home side's quest for goals was hampered by the fact that key figures failed to make a real impact. Rui Costa was largely anonymous in his pivotal attacking midfield role and, just ahead of him, Pauleta squandered several chances with poor first touches and mistimed runs.

Scolari tried to shake up their attack at the break by bringing on Deco for the celebrated Milan player and adding Cristiano to the team's left flank in an attempt to add width, as they were singularly failing to make an impact playing through the centre.

Ronaldo started poorly, though, when his 51st-minute trip on Seitaridis led to the penalty that Angelis Basinas converted to double the Greeks' lead. And it got little better for the Manchester United winger, who showed no sign of having taken in that most elementary instruction from childhood: look before you cross.

There was some consolation for both the player and his team three minutes into added time when Figo's corner from the left found him with enough time and space to pick his spot for Portugal's consolation effort.

The Real midfielder himself had his moments but was at least as guilty as anyone around him when it came to finishing. Over the 90 minutes the hosts managed just five shots on target - compared to four for their opponents - while a further 19 flew wide of the mark.

"It's disappointing for us and the supporters," Figo said, "but we have two games left and we just have to play them and do our best."

Ten million Portuguese will be joined by most of the army of visitors who are roaming the country in hoping that proves good enough.