Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari admitted he had made a “big mistake” in only making eight changes to his starting line-up after his team lost their final Euro 2008 Group A match 2-0 to Switzerland.

NORTHERN Ireland ended the year in style by holding Portugal 1-1. Warren Feeney grabbed the equaliser from a Keith Gillespie cross to cancel out an own goal from Stephen Craigan.

Luis Figo made his much-heralded return to the Portugal squad on Thursday ahead of the World Cup qualifiers with Slovakia and Estonia next month.

Manchester United will be without Cristiano Ronaldo for four Premiership games, a Champions League qualifier and their trip to the United States after he was included in Portugal’s squad for the Olympic games.