LISBON, July 3: Portugal will trust in home advantage and the Midas touch of their Brazilian coach to secure a first major title in Sunday's Euro 2004 final and end Greece's great adventure.

Both teams will be getting their first taste of a major final when they run out at the magnificent new Luz Stadium for a match that will be a clash of styles between two sides enjoying unprecedented success under imported coaches.

A little over three weeks ago, a Greece side led by Germany's Otto Rehhagel shocked Luiz Felipe Scolari's Portugal with a 2-1 win in the opening match of the tournament that set the tone for much of what was to follow.

Portugal recovered from the trauma to beat Russia, Spain, England and the Netherlands and clinch a place in the final of their home event.

The reward is a last chance for the remaining members of

the golden generation - Luis Figo, Fernando Couto and Rui Costa - to win a lasting place in history and the team are determined not to have to settle for silver.

"That first defeat was just down to anxiety," striker Nuno Gomes said. "We came back from that to knock out three serious candidates.

"We're now just one step away from fulfilling the dream of the whole country. We're going to fight tooth and nail to turn that dream into reality."

History will be made whatever the result of Sunday's final, with a foreign coach set to lead a country to victory at a major championship for the first time.

If Portugal win, Scolari will become the first to win the World Cup and European Championship with different countries.

The inspirational Brazilian, who took over the Portugal job after leading his native country to World Cup victory in 2002, has been a huge success, rescuing the hosts with a series of uncanny substitutions and firing them with self-belief.

Portugal had lost two semi-finals in the European Championship and one in the World Cup before Euro 2004 but with Scolari at the helm they eased to a deserved win over the Dutch.

What German coach Rehhagel has achieved with Greece has been even more remarkable. They were 80-1 to win the title before Euro 2004 began and had not won a match in their two previous appearances at tournament finals.

After beating Portugal, they became the first team ever to defeat the hosts and holders in the same competition when they knocked out champions France 1-0 in the quarterfinals with a note-perfect performance.

They then clinched a place in the final with a silver-goal win against a talented Czech Republic side.

A second victory over Portugal on Sunday would give them a title victory even more astonishing than Denmark's shock 1992 European Championship win in Sweden when the Danes were recalled from their holidays to replace the suspended Yugoslavia.

The biggest problem for Rehhagel will be the suspension of midfielder Giorgos Karagounis after he picked up a second yellow card against the Czechs.

He was also suspended for the game against Russia in the group phase and his absence was painfully felt in a 2-1 defeat that almost cost them a quarterfinal place.

He will be replaced by Stelios Giannakopoulos or Vassilis Tsartas.

Greece are at a slight disadvantage in the final, with Portugal having had an extra day to recover, and are wary of reading too much into that opening-day victory over the hosts.

"This will be a totally different game from the first one," midfielder Angelos Basinas said. "This will be a 90-minute final where anything can happen and any past results do not matter at all."

But that past result will matter to Portugal and the vast majority of the 65,000 crowd packed into the Luz as their team seek revenge for their shaky start to the tournament.

No host nation has reached the final of the European Championship since France beat Spain in 1984.

If Portugal repeat that achievement, the fourth of July party will be memorable indeed.

Probable teams:

Portugal (4-5-1): 1-Ricardo; 13-Miguel, 16-Ricardo Carvalho, 4-Jorge Andrade, 14-Nuno Valente; 6-Costinha, 18-Maniche, 20-Deco, 7-Luis Figo, 17-Cristiano Ronaldo; 21-Nuno Gomes.

Greece: 1-Antonis Nikopolidis; 2-Yourkas Seitaridis, 19-Michalis Kapsis, 5-Traianos Dellas 14-Takis Fyssas, 8-Stelios Giannakopoulos, 7-Theodoros Zagorakis, 6-Angelos Basinas, 21-Costas Katsouranis, 15-Zisis Vryzas, 9-Angelos Haristeas.

Referee: Markus Merk (Germany).

Linesmen: Jan-Hendrik Salver (Germany), Christian Schraer (Germany).-Reuters