Portugal 2 England 2 After extra time. Portugal win 6-5 on penaltiesLisbon's Stadium of Light became England's heart of darkness last night with Sven Goran Eriksson's men suffering a second night of heartbreak at the home of Benfica as Portugal marched on to the semi-finals of this tournament after a night of almost relentless drama that ended with goalkeeper Ricardo clinching victory for locals in a penalty shoot out.
Misses from David Beckham, who stubbed his foot as he took his kick and Darius Vassell, who attempt was saved, ended up costing the English dearly for the nerve of the Portuguese players held steady in a nerve wracking finale to an enthralling night of football.
With the game standing at 1-1 after 90 minutes a stunning silver goal from Rui Costa who carried the ball some 50 metres before sending it crashing off the underside of the crossbar from 20, looked to have wrapped it up for the remnants of the Golden generation with 10 minutes of extra time remaining. Showing the reserve of character England teams of recent years have lacked, though, the Eriksson's men fought back from the brink of elimination with John Terry heading down a David Beckham corner four minutes later for Frank Lampard to drive home from close range.
It was almost the end of what had turned out to be a long and unforgettable night one on which both sides had fought with heroic spirit and determination and each had come from behind at a point when they looked, for all their bravery to be going out of the competition.
Over the course of the 120 minutes it was easily the Portuguese who saw more of the ball and they who generated more of the chances. The English never looked a side, though, that had lost its ability to influence the game and a string of outstanding performances enabled them to compete ferociously until the very last whistle.
Both sides must have feared the consequences of an early error but it was the Portuguese who had to cope with them after Costinha made a poor glancing contact with a long kick out just three minutes in to allow Michael Owen in for his first goal of the tournament, one he took superbly with a first time shot past Ricardo after spinning full circle just inside the area.
Within a few minutes there were signs that they were gaining the upper hand with Figo, Ronaldo and particularly Deco keeping the English back four busy even if there was only the occasional cause for real alarm on the part of David James.
An early slip by the goalkeeper while trying to gather at the feet of Nuno Gomes provided a reminder of just how vulnerable he can be but with John Terry and Sol Campbell protecting him well both in the air and around the edges of their area he had surprisingly little to do over the course of the first half.
Deco proved the most threatening of the locals but the Porto midfielder's final product was, one early looping shot that James touched over aside, consistently disappointing with a couple of poor early crosses being followed by two equally disappointing frees and a 20 yard shot that was well wide of the target. Figo's contribution, meanwhile, amounted to no more than a couple more dismally poor set pieces.Portugal's best chance of the opening half was cut out by Steven Gerrard who was excelling in his roaming brief, tidying up at the back when required to but also driving his team forward on those occasions the English sought to break out of defence and run at Ricardo's defence.
Their effectiveness in that department suffered a huge setback just short of the half hour when Rooney, caught minutes earlier by Jorge Andrade on the ankle and clearly limping, had to be replaced with Darius Vassell.
In Rooney's absence Owen sought to recapture his old territory, the centre ground, but while the English always seemed to retain the capacity to spring forward through over the course it was the Portuguese who continued to enjoy the lion's share of the game's possession and their defence coped well then the need arose, Ricardo Carvalha looking especially good when under pressure to make an important tackle.
For a long spell through the second half, though their attacking game went flat and England seemed to be marshalling their opponents more effectively than ever in midfield where Gerrard and Frank Lampard worked relentlessly to disrupt their build up play.
Finally, with 15 minutes remaining, Scolari moved to breath new life into his attack and after Figo forced a good stop from James at his near post the coach took the decision to replace him. The Brazilian's choice of Helder Postiga to add bite to the home side's search for an equaliser can hardly have inspired terror on the English bench but sure enough it was 21 year-old, fresh from a nightmare of a first season at Spurs who was to make the breakthrough with a fine headed goal.
It came after 83 minutes and was as much the product of a momentary lapse of concentration amongst the England central defenders as of any particular brilliance on the part of the locals although the floating cross from Simao was good and the striker undoubtedly picked his spot rather sweetly.
In the first minute of stoppage time Eriksson's men thought they had stolen victory back when, from Beckham's free Campbell headed first against the bar and then, with his follow up found the goal but Ricardo always looked to have been bundled over and the referee awarded the free out.
Briefly, Rui Costa's goal seemed as if it might decide the contest in Portugal's only for Lampard to hit back. When it came to penalties, however, the Portuguese finally had the required edge with Rui Costa missing but Deco, Simao, Ronaldo, Maniche, Postiga and Ricardo all scoring while Owen, Lampard, Terry, Owen Hargreaves and Cole found the net for the English.
