Round of 16
Portugal 1, Netherlands 0Portugal booked a quarter-final date with England on Saturday with an ill-tempered 1-0 win over the Netherlands in which both teams had two players sent off.
Russian referee Valentin Ivanov brandished a record 20 cards in total -- 16 of them yellow -- as Portugal scraped through to extend coach Luiz Felipe Scolari's record World Cup winning streak to 11 matches.
PHOTO: AFP
Ugly scenes marred the match as first Costinha, then Khalid Boulahrouz, then Deco and finally Giovanni van Bronckhorst saw red.
Scolari said he had never seen anything like it before.
"In three-and-a-half years of coaching Portugal I have never ended a match with just nine players," Scolari said.
PHOTO: AFP
"FIFA always talks about fairplay, but tonight we saw several gestures that were anything but," the 57-year-old Brazilian added.
As for missing Deco and Costinha in the match with England, Scolari was defiant.
"They are vital players for us, but we will have others that can fill in for them, even if England is a tough opponent," said Scolari, who coached Portugal to victory over England in the Euro 2004 quarter-finals.
PHOTO: AFP
Portugal went 1-0 up after 23 minutes, but put themselves in trouble when Costinha received his second yellow just before half-time.
They also lost Cristiano Ronaldo to a right thigh injury. But Boulahrouz received his marching orders for elbowing Luis Figo -- who himself was fortunate to stay on the pitch after headbutting Mark van Bommel, who belatedly and theatrically collapsed to the ground -- before Deco was dismissed for throwing away the ball.
Van Bronckhorst trudged off in the dying seconds of the match, killing off the Netherlands' faint hopes.
The disciplinary nightmare marred a promising encounter between two of the tournament's form teams who had amassed 32 matches unbeaten between them.
It was Marco van Basten's first competitive defeat as Dutch coach.
Maniche was on target for his second goal of the tournament as the Euro 2004 finalists cut their way through the Dutch defense after 23 minutes, putting them on course for a quarter-final with England.
Maniche, who also scored a blinder against the Dutch in the 2-1 victory in the Euro 2004 semi-finals, said that the victory was a team effort.
"We are a talented squad and we deserved the victory," he said.
However he blamed the referee for overreacting to what he thought was not a violent match.
"The referee did not contribute to the spectacle," the 28-year-old said.
"I don't think that it was such a violent match to merit so many sendings off," Maniche said.
Portugal received a double blow when a tearful Ronaldo was subbed off and Costinha received his marching orders for a second bookable offence.
Ronaldo had been struggling with a thigh problem since going down under a heavy challenge from Boulahrouz.
The Dutch almost got off to a flying start with van Bommel firing just wide in the first minute.
Robin van Persie also sent one thudding against the advertising boards and Arjen Robben failed to get a meaningful shot away after a neat interchange with Dirk Kuyt, who replaced misfiring striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.
But it was Portugal who broke the deadlock when Pauleta met a cross from the irrepressible Deco, teeing it up for Maniche who made space for himself before finishing with his right foot. Suddenly the Dutch attack looked toothless, with Robben struggling under the close attentions of Miguel and Kuyt also finding himself locked down.
But Van Persie sparked them back into life with a twisting run that turned the Portuguese defense inside-out before shooting wide.
Robben had a penalty appeal turned down when he received studs in his shoulder after a knock-on from Kuyt.
But the match threatened to disintegrate after an hour when Figo, angry about a foul on Deco, was booked for headbutting van Bommel.
Minutes later Boulahrouz elbowed Figo on the left touchline, earning his second yellow and sparking a furious shoving match between the two benches.
Deco's dismissal with just over 10 minutes left incensed Scolari, who had been on and off his bench all night, as the spectacle degenerated into farce.
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