Quarter-finals
England 0, Portugal 0England's dream of World Cup glory ended in an all-too-familiar story of heroic failure here on Saturday, Portugal beating Sven-Goran Eriksson's side on penalties after an epic quarter-final battle.
Cristiano Ronaldo stroked home the decisive spot-kick to seal a 3-1 shoot-out victory for Portugal after the two teams had finished locked at 0-0 after 120 tension-filled minutes.
PHOTO: AP
Portugal will now face France in Wednesday's semi-final in Munich after the 1998 champions downed holders Brazil in Saturday's other last eight tie.
Victory was sweet for Portugal's charismatic coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who had masterminded victories over England at both the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004 European Championship.
But defeat was cruel on England, who had star striker Wayne Rooney controversially sent off in the 62nd minute and saw captain David Beckham reduced to tears after an injury led to his substitution in the second half.
PHOTO: EPA
Despite those twin setbacks, 10-man England rallied marvelously to frustrate Portugal for the remainder of the game and even created enough chances of their own to have sneaked what would have been a remarkable win.
Yet Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher all saw spot-kicks saved by Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo to leave England and Eriksson reflecting on their fifth exit on penalties in eight tournaments.
Eriksson, speaking after his last game in charge of England, said his players had no-one to blame but themselves.
PHOTO: EPA
"It's not good enough to miss three penalties out of four," Eriksson said.
"To get to the quarter-finals four years ago was a good result, to get the quarter-finals two years ago was a good result. But this time no, it is not good enough. The team we have and the squad we have we should at least -- at least -- have played in the semi-final," he said. "It's more our fault than the force of Portugal that won the game."
Portugal coach Scolari -- who saw his unbeaten record in the World Cup finals extended to 12 successive matches -- said a newly acquired "warrior spirit" had been behind his team's win.
"The spirit of this team is remarkable," Scolari said. "This is a new Portugal team and it's a new spirit. It's a warrior spirit. This is what we were missing in the past."
It had all looked so promising for England early on, benefiting from cooler conditions under the closed roof of the AufSchalke Arena and roared on by around 40,000 of their own fans in a sell-out 52,000 crowd.
After a relatively incident-free first half, the match exploded into life in the opening 15 minutes of the second period, with legitimate English claims for a penalty turned down, captain Beckham substituted and Rooney sent off.
The penalty appeal came on 50 minutes when Beckham's cross from the edge of the area hit Nuno Valente's arm. Despite strong England claims, Argentinian referee Horacio Elizondo waved play on.
Beckham, who had appeared to hurt an ankle in an earlier challenge from Valente, was substituted shortly afterwards.
The Real Madrid midfielder was replaced by winger Aaron Lennon on 52 minutes and could be seen in tears as he sat dejectedly in the dug-out.
But just when it looked as if the pacy Lennon's introduction might have turned the game England's way, Rooney saw red in a decision that is bound to be the subject of furious debate.
Rooney appeared to have been fouled by Carvalho but as he battled to break clear he rashly sunk his boot into the Chelsea player's groin.
Portugal's players surrounded referee Elizondo who hesitated before producing a red card. England's bench reacted furiously with the substituted Beckham having to be restrained as he gesticulated angrily from the touchline.
A stunned Rooney trudged off the pitch disconsolately as Eriksson scrambled to reorganize, hauling off Joe Cole for gangling striker Peter Crouch as England switched to 4-4-1.
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