In modern football, it is not easy to earn yourself a spontaneous standing ovation from the fans. It is even harder to earn one from your opponents' fans, away from home.

Yet, when towards the end of Portugal's Euro 2000 warm-up friendly with Italy in Reggio Calabria last April, Portuguese midfielder Manuel Rui Costa was substituted, the crowd took to their feet to afford him a noisy, enthusiastic and warm ovation. It was an appreciation not just of Rui Costa's excellent performance that night but also to his consistently outstanding form during six seasons in Italian soccer with Fiorentina.

Barcelona's brilliant Luis Figo is the most famous name on the Portugal team which faces France in tonight's semi-final in Brussels. However, the 28-year-old, 55-times capped Rui Costa is, at least arguably, every bit as important a cog in the fluid, attacking Portuguese game as Figo.

Whereas Figo has touched sublime heights, most notably with that remarkable first Portuguese goal in their opening 3-2 win against England, Rui Costa has continued to provide the midfield pistons that keep the Portuguese side ticking.

Much has been made of the midfield confrontation tonight between Figo and French wizard Zinedine Zidane. Yet, while Figo v Zidane makes for good box-office promotional material, the billing should more accurately read Rui Costa v Zidane, since Rui Costa's role for Portugal, both positionally and tactically, echoes that of Zidane for France. And this is a confrontation that has lit up some memorable Fiorentina v Juventus games in recent seasons.

Win or lose tonight, these European finals have represented something of a consecration not just for Portuguese football but also for Rui Costa. One of a talented generation of Portuguese youth team players who won the 1989 Under-18 World Cup and 1991 Under-21 World Cup (Figo, Fernando Couto, Paulo Sousa, Jorge Costa, Joao Pinto and Abel Xavier are others to have graduated into the current squad), Rui Costa has relatively little to show for a career played out at the very highest level.

Everyone knows about Portugal's consistent - at least until Euro 2000 - failure to deliver on its talented potential in major tournaments. What is perhaps less obvious is the regular frustration experienced by Rui Costa at club level where Fiorentina has provided a mirror image of Portugal by flattering much (leading Serie A) only to deceive.

Throughout his time at Fiorentina he has played alongside one of the best strikers in world soccer in Argentinean Gabriel Batistuta, yet Rui Costa has only an Italian Cup winner's medal to show for his efforts. Worse than that, he has by turns fallen out with various coaches and with the notoriously fickle Fiorentina fans.

Four seasons ago, then Fiorentina coach Claudio Ranieri insisted on "tightening-up" his midfield by regularly taking off Rui Costa during the second half. If and when he did, the fans would usually howl their disapproval. In the season that has just finished, however, a small element of the Fiorentina fans took to regularly whistling the Portuguese star. Rui Costa is not the sort of player to shrug off such matters lightly. Fan disapproval, and in particular the feeling that he and his family are not free to live a "normal" life outside football in Florence, has prompted him to regularly threaten to leave Fiorentina.

He may not be a "leader" or someone with a temperament of steel, yet he is clearly the quintessential modern playmaker. He is constantly on the move, allying running and dribbling skills to brilliant passing and a penchant for goals (he has failed to score so far at Euro 2000 but he did score six for Portugal during the qualification stages).

Buoyed by Portugal's great run thus far, Rui Costa is precisely the sort of player who could touch new heights this evening. The Portuguese press has sometimes been negative in their line of questioning, but Rui Costa has no doubt that Portugal have already silenced their critics.

"Before the tournament, I said that it would not be enough to impress people with our good football, our passing game. Good results are what matter and we have had them."

Will we have another "good result" tonight?