Portugal 1 Holland 0: Portugal booked their place in the World Cup quarter-finals with a bruising and bad-tempered 1-0 win over Holland at the Frankenstadion in Nuremburg.

In a dramatic and explosive game marked by a flurry of yellow cards and four reds, a record for a match at any World Cup finals, Portugal clung on to the advantage they earned when Maniche fired them ahead after only 23 minutes.

Despite the dismissals of Portuguese midfielders Costinho and Deco plus Dutch defender Khalid Boulahrouz and midfielder Giovanni van Bronckhorst by Russian referee Valentin Ivanov, it was a contest of high-quality and much attacking play.

Portugal will meet England in the last eight in Gelsenkirchen on Saturday.

Netherlands, who replaced striker Ruud van Nistelrooy with Dirk Kuyt, enjoyed most of the early possession but in a tight and technical contest they also picked up two quick cautions.

The first went to Mark van Bommel for a foul on Cristiano Ronaldo after only two minutes and the second, after seven, to Boulahrouz for a vicious high challenge that left a cut high up across Cristiano Ronaldo's right thigh.

The Dutch right back was lucky not to be sent off but the damage he did resulted in Ronaldo, after being treated twice, limping out of the game after 34 minutes.

By then, Maniche had been cautioned for a challenge on Van Bommel and struck the opening goal, a sweetly-taken right-foot finish from 12 yards after Pauleta laid it into his path.

Within nine minutes Costinha picked up his first yellow card for a foul on Phillip Cocu.

He was lucky to escape another, for a foul on Ooijer as the game reached boiling point, before he was sent off in added time at the end of the first half when he handled stupidly in midfield for his second yellow card.

A minute earlier, Portugal had almost taken a two-goal lead when Pauleta's shot on the turn was saved with his legs by Van der Sar, making a record 113th appearance for the Netherlands.

The Dutch were vigorous in response but their football lacked the precise geometry and penetration of the Portuguese although Van Persie, dribbling and cutting back from the right wing, shot just wide and Arjen Robben was dangerous on the left.

They raised the tempo after the interval when Cocu thumped a shot against the bar and twice Van Bommel hit thunderous drives - one bounced wide and the other flew just over.

Boulahrouz was then dismissed after 63 minutes for raising his elbow on Figo, minutes after the Portugal captain was booked for butting Van Bommel as all hell threatened to break loose.

It almost did in a welter of scraps and more wild tackling as both sides dived into anything that moved in the closing stages when Deco was sent off for his second yellow after holding on to the ball as the Dutch tried to take a free kick.

The game was almost over when Netherlands midfielder Van Bronckhorst was shown a second yellow card and also sent off.