Euro 2004 hosts Portugal blamed a bout of stage fright for their abject performance in the shock 2-1 defeat by Greece on Saturday.

The hosts were expected to win the game comfortably but never recovered after conceding a seventh-minute goal scored by Giorgos Karagounis.

"We were nervous, we had been waiting for that game for a long time," striker Nuno Gomes, who came on as a second-half substitute, said yesterday.

"The desire to win was enormous and the pressure was great. We were nervous when we went onto the field and that affected us badly, instead of making an advantage out of having 50,000 people behind us and playing at home," he added.

"Like all the Portuguese, nobody thought we were going to lose. I never thought about losing the game against Greece and that's not overconfidence, it was optimism."

Fellow striker Simao Sabrosa said the players shared the sadness of their compatriots, who had eagerly awaited the start of a competition seen as an unparalleled chance for Portugal to win their first major title.

"We wanted to win and we felt that yesterday was a sad day for Portugal. We suffered as well," said Simao.

The defeat left Portugal needing to beat Russia on Wednesday and Spain next Sunday to qualify without depending on other results.

It is similar to their situation in the 2002 World Cup, when they crashed to a shock 3-2 defeat by the United States in their first outing.

On that occasion, Portugal beat Poland 4-0 in their next game but exited the tournament after a 1-0 loss to co-hosts South Korea in their final group match. "We lost the first game in South Korea and suffered the same let-down," said Nuno Gomes.

"Yesterday, I relived some of those moments. But I don't think our result or the performance was affected by what happened in Korea."

The players said they felt the public was still with them. "We feel the Portuguese are still on our side," said Simao.

"We believe that on Wednesday the stadium will be full and people at home will be supporting us as well."