Lisbon Lions-tamer throws England to jaws of defeat

THE climactic moment of an exhilarating night of high drama in the Estadio da Luz last night was theatrical in its extravagance.

England bowed out of the European Championship of 2004 with heads held high, their brave pitch at glory denied by an inspired Portugal before an enthralled audience.

This was not just a football match, this was entertainment that was savage in its intensity and riveting in its tension. It stretched to 120 thrilling minutes, produced goals of rare brilliance and was only decided in a penalty shoot-out of outrageous melodrama.

Goalkeeper Ricardo of Sporting Lisbon was the central hero. He made the critical save when he dived to turn away Darius Vassell's attempt to boost England's penalty total to six. Then the exuberant Ricardo waved away Nuno Valente's attempt to take the next, decisive penalty and instead drove it himself deep into David James' net to cause the stadium audience to explode with excitement.

It was raw, it was intense, it was magnificent and through it all England battled with great courage and enormous discipline to try and defy what seemed inevitable from the trend of the contest and the sheer drive of Portugal's performance. They held the lead for 80 fateful minutes, fell behind in extra time and equalised again to force the penalties.

Their ill-luck in penalty shoot-outs haunted them again as David Beckham kicked the ground rather than the ball to miss their first. But after Rui Costa had missed for Portugal in their third penalty area it all came down to sudden death and Ricardo's inspired intervention.

Owen, Lampard, Terry, Hargreaves and Cole followed Beckham's miss with successful penalties; Deco, Simao, Ronaldo, Maniche and Postiga, with a brilliant chipped effort, scored for Portugal. And then it was over.

But it was not without its controversy for England's centre-back Sol Campbell headed into the Portuguese net in the final minute of ordinary time only to be denied a winner because of a foul on Ricardo in a questionable refereeing decision.

England were harshly treated in that moment, but over the 120 minutes there could be no denying Portugal's right to success.

They suffered because a moment's aberration as early as the third minute was inordinately influential. Costinha, the midfield enforcer in the titanic victory over Spain, surrendered a goal that spoke volumes for Michael Owen's sharpness as early as the third minute.

Costinha rose just outside his penalty area to get his head to a long English clearance. The ball skidded off his head and Carvalho left it run goalwards as Owen slipped behind him and was sideways on goal as he hooked it over the head of goalkeeper Ricardo.

England were sharp, concentrated and calculating. They spent long minutes chasing the ball, countering Portugal, but they did so with rare application to devastating effect.

They saw much less of the ball but they made so much better use of it. And that was a tribute to the pace and the energy of their youthful strikers, Rooney and Owen.

In the opening quarter of the match until Rooney's injury they challenged the confidence of Portugal's central defence by their hard work, their clever running off the ball and their directness when in possession.

Portugal have laboured up front in all of their matches in this championship, their modest return in terms of goals a damning indictment of their lack of real quality at centre-forward and their tactical alignment.

The presence of such sublime ball-players as Figo, Maniche, Deco, Ronaldo, Costinha in midfield ensured that Portugal dictated the trend in all of their games bar the final, tumultuous 30 minutes against Spain. But tragically for them, there was precious little end product.

In this regard criticism of Nuno Gomes and, indeed, Pauleta from earlier games, was harsh. For they were too often left without support, labouring alone between three and sometimes four defenders as was Nuno Gomes for much of this game.

Necessity is the mother of invention and of necessity the conservative Luiz Felipe Scolari discovered a more urgent, more dynamic, more dangerous combination. He gave the earnest Nuno Gomes a partner in Helder Postiga and suddenly England's sense of security was undermined, their control of their own penalty area no longer secure.

Rui Costa also brought some fresh imagination to bear in the central position and it was an altogether more likely Portuguese team for the closing 20 minutes of the match.

So their equalising goal in the 83rd minute was flagged well in advance and was well deserved. Rui Costa found Simao wide on the left and he checked back on to his right foot to deliver the cross that Postiga dispatched with such authority. Faced with the prospect of extra-time England suddenly gambled and in a dramatic final five minutes built up an impressive forward momentum.

They were not kindly treated by the referee when they scored in the final minute a goal that in my view should have been allow stand.

Beckham's free from the left was headed firmly against the crossbar by Campbell and when the rebound fell into a heaving penalty area, the giant Spurs man powered it in.

So a momentous contest moved to its climactic moment and a glittering star of the past decade reached deep into his illustrious past to relive one of the great deeds of his distinguished career.

Rui Costa ran hard at the heart of the England defence in the 110th minute and held off Phil Neville in a mazy run to the edge of the box. He then checked and produced a right-foot shot that left James helpless as it rocketed in off the underside of the bar.

It should have been enough to win it. But England were not prepared to yield. They were back in exhilarating style with an equaliser to beat the final whistle by five minutes. John Terry banged Beckham's right wing corner across goal with his head and Frank Lampard spun to shoot past Ricardo from 10 yards.

PORTUGAL (4-5-1): Ricardo; Miguel (Rui Costa 78), Carvalho, Jorge Andrade, Nuno Valente; Figo (Postiga 75), Deco, Costinha (Simao 63), Maniche, Ronaldo; Nuno Gomes.

ENGLAND (4-4-2): James; G. Neville, Terry, Campbell, Cole; Beckham, Lampard, Gerrard (Hargreaves 81), Scholes (P. Neville 57); Owen, Rooney (Vassell 27).

Referee: Mr U. Meier (Switzerland).