26 June 2004	Saturday	07 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

LISBON, June 25: Goalkeeper Ricardo converted a match-winning spot kick to give Portugal a 6-5 victory over England on penalties and a Euro 2004 semifinal place after their thriller finished 2-2 following extra time on Thursday.

Ricardo, who had just saved a penalty from England substitute Darius Vassell, made no mistake and sparked mass celebrations across the nation as he sent the hosts into the last four to face Sweden or the Netherlands on June 30.

England's cruel luck in shootout's continued with captain David Beckham slicing their first penalty over the bar. They were also controversially denied a 'goal' by defender Sol Campbell in the 90th minute after a foul on Ricardo.

But at the end of a match that enthralled the fans in the Luz stadium Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, in charge of Brazil when they beat England in the World Cup quarterfinals in 2002, took the plaudits as the hosts reached the last four.

"I said to them 'One Portuguese is worth, with his enthusiasm, the 40,000 English that are here'. And to all the Portuguese, congratulations," said the Brazilian.

"All wins are delicious, but this one especially, after everything that happened, it was spectacular," he added.

"Culminating with that penalty that Ricardo both saved and made. That's the kind of thing that makes us thank God."

"It's very hard," said England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson. "We were not lucky with some things out there today. The spirit out there was fantastic. But losing like that is very hard."

The heart-stopping finale, in which England's shootout curse came back to haunt them, followed 120 minutes of spectacle and late goals that riveted the Luz stadium crowd to their seats.

Both sides came within minutes of victory in a pulsating game which started with England striker Michael Owen scoring his first goal of the tournament after only three minutes.

England, who lost teenage prodigy Wayne Rooney to an ankle injury after only 27 minutes, looked to have weathered the unrelenting pressure until Portugal substitute Helder Postiga headed an equaliser seven minutes from the end.

Campbell then hit the bar with a header and although he nodded home the rebound Swiss referee Urs Meier had seen a foul on Ricardo by England's other central defender John Terry.

The match continued to swing Portugal's way in extra time when Rui Costa crashed home a stunning 20-metre drive which clipped the underside of the bar after 110 minutes.

However, England hauled themselves back into the game five minutes later when Frank Lampard swivelled to score in a packed area after a knockdown by Chelsea team mate Terry.

Deadlocked after extra time, England made a calamitous start to the shootout when Beckham, who also missed a penalty in England's opening 2-1 Group B defeat by France, seemed to slip on the wet turf and ballooned his shot into the crowd.

Rui Costa then turned villain minutes later when he also sent his spot-kick over the top to make it all square and line-up Ricardo's victorious duel with Vassell.

It was a familiar scenario for England who lost on penalties to Germany in both the Euro 96 and 1990 World Cup semifinals and to Argentina in the 1998 World Cup second round.

England were also left to rue Campbell's disallowed 'goal'.

Yet Portugal had dominated possession and, with Figo pulling the strings before making way for Postiga after 75 minutes, there was some breathtaking approach play in the final third. However, their shooting was poor in open play and from a string of free kicks and the England defence, superbly marshalled by Campbell, soaked up the pressure.

England, wearing black armbands in memory of a fan who was killed chasing a pickpocket in Lisbon on Tuesday, could not have hoped for a better start.

Goalkeeper David James hit a long upfield clearance and the ball flicked off defender Costinha straight into the path of Owen, who spun round to hook it past a helpless Ricardo.

England did not have to wait long for Portugal's response as superb passing between Deco, Figo and winger Cristiano Ronaldo forced them into a series of last-ditch clearances.

Portugal continued to dictate the rhythm and England's attack suffered a body blow when Rooney hobbled off after coming under pressure from defender Jorge Andrade.

Substitute Vassell settled quickly enough, though, to tee Owen up for a shot which drew a superb one-handed save from Ricardo as England threatened on the break.

Portugal kept up the pressure after the re-start but found it increasingly difficult to sustain the high tempo of the opening 45 minutes, with Ronaldo fighting a largely losing battle with outstanding left back Ashley Cole. But they levelled with Postiga's header from almost point-blank range and looked to have won it with Rui Costa's drive until Lampard lined up the decisive shootout.

In the other quarterfinals champions France play outsiders Greece on Friday, Sweden face the Netherlands on Saturday and the Czech Republic meet Denmark on Sunday.-Reuters