England name unchanged side

England are looking to equal their best ever performance in the European Championships by booking a semi-final spot at the expense of host nation Portugal.

They fell at the penultimate hurdle to Yugoslavia in 1968 and then were beaten in the infamous penalty shoot-out by Germany eight years ago.

Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side were facing a difficult task against opponents who have gradually improved after the shock of losing their opening game to Greece.

And included in the Portuguese line-up was Nuno Gomes who scored the winning goal when his side came from 2-0 down to defeat England during Euro 2000.

Gomes, who had also grabbed the only goal against Spain on Sunday, replaced the suspended Pauleta.

England were also brimming with confidence after putting the disappointment of losing to France behind them to reach the last eight.

They named an unchanged side for the third successive match although Eriksson was looking to his defence to cut out conceding goals from set pieces.

It was an opportunity for Eriksson to gain revenge on Portuguese manager Luiz Felipe Scolari who had been in charge of the Brazilian side which knocked England out of the 2002 World Cup.

The interest in the match was such that touts were asking as much as £400 for tickets outside the Estadio da Luz.

Portugal: Ricardo, Miguel, Andrade, Ricardo Carvalho, Nuno Valente, Maniche, Costinha, Deco, Figo, Nuno Gomes, Ronaldo.

Subs: Quim, Moreira, Paulo Ferreira, Rui Jorge, Couto, Petit, Rui Costa, Simao, Beto, Tiago, Postiga.

England: James, Gary Neville, Terry, Campbell, Ashley Cole, Beckham, Lampard, Gerrard, Scholes, Owen, Rooney.

Subs: Robinson, Walker, Bridge, Phil Neville, Carragher, Butt, Hargreaves, Joe Cole, Dyer, Heskey, Vassell.

Referee: Urs Meier (Switzerland)