Penalty jinx haunts 10-man England

Quarter-final

England 0
Portugal 0

(aet - Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)

Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo saved three penalties, a World Cup record, to give his side a 3-1 penalty shoot-out win over England in the quarter-final yesterday after a goalless 120 minutes.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winning penalty after Ricardo saved penalties from England midfielders Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard and substitute Jamie Carragher.

After a closely-contested first half, the drama sparked after 62 minutes when England striker Wayne Rooney, only back from a broken foot at these finals and seen as key to their World Cup hopes, was red-carded.

Involved in a tussle for possession, Rooney stamped on the groin of defender Ricardo Carvalho virtually in front of Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo.

England were already without captain David Beckham, left sitting in tears with his head in his hands after being substituted in the 51st minute, seemingly after taking a knock from Nuno Valente.

Nothing went right for Sven-Goran Eriksson's men, who had had a penalty appeal ignored just two minutes earlier when a Beckham cross struck the arm of Valente.

Eriksson reacted to Rooney's dismissal by bringing on towering striker Peter Crouch for left winger Joe Cole, but England were badly lacking firepower up front.

Portugal Luiz Felipe Scolari, who was behind England's downfall at the 2002 World Cup for his native Brazil and did the same for Portugal at Euro 2004, tried to galvanise his men from the touchline.

It was a far cry from a balanced opening 45 minutes.

In a free-flowing start, England goalkeeper Paul Robinson had to smother in a goalmouth melee, while Portugal's tight defence nearly was unlocked by a neat three-man move and Lampard almost got on the end of a Gerrard through-ball.

Beckham's replacement, Aaron Lennon, caused havoc with his first touches after the break - teeing up Rooney, only for him to mis-kick, while Cole prodded the loose ball over the bar from point blank range.

Minutes later, things turned a lot worse for England as Rooney, who had limped out of that Euro 2004 quarter-final with Portugal with a broken bone in his foot, this time got his marching orders.

Portugal soon had England in the ropes, without creating a gilt-edged scoring chance, while John Terry and Crouch were both denied by last-ditch interceptions.

Though winger Cristiano Ronaldo was a constant threat, Scolari's men struggled to break down England's tiring side.

'Defeat hurts' - Eriksson

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said defeat in a World Cup penalty shoot-out yesterday was unfair and a painful end to his stint in the job.

"I don't think we deserved to lose. We lost on penalties and I'm really sorry about it.

"The boys deserved better today," he told reporters.

"We are out of the tournament and it hurts... it's very painful. We practise penalties so much so I don't know what you can do more about that."

Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has steered Portugal to the semi-finals after winning the World Cup with his native Brazil four years ago.

"We have a possibility of victory in the next game as well and we get to the final," Scolari said.

"But in principle, we are taking things step by step. We would be happy with any adversary," he said, when asked if he would prefer to face Brazil or France in the semi-finals.

England: 1-Robinson; 2-Neville, 5-Ferdinand, 6-Terry, 3-A. Cole; 7-Beckham (19-Lennon 52, 15-Carragher 119), 8-Lampard, 16-Hargreaves, 4-Gerrard, 11-J. Cole (21-Crouch 65); 9-Rooney.

Portugal: 1-Ricardo; 13-Miguel, 16-Carvalho, 5-Meira, 14-Valente; 8-Petit, 18-Maniche, 19-Tiago (10-Viana 74), 7-Figo (23-Postiga 86), 17-Ronaldo; 9-Pauleta (11-Sabrosa 64).

Referee: Horacio Elizondo (Argentina).

Red card: Rooney 62.

Half-time: 0-0. Attendance: 52,000.

FIFA man of the match: Hargreaves.

Penalty shoot-out sequence

Simao (scored) 0-1; Lampard (saved) 0-1; Viana (missed) 0-1; Hargreaves (scored) 1-1; Petit (missed) 1-1; Gerrard (saved) 1-1; Postiga (scored) 1-2; Carragher (saved) 1-2; Ronaldo (scored) 1-3.