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Football

Hosts Portugal seal place in final


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Portugal players and substitutes celebrate Maniche's goal

LISBON, Portugal -- Hosts Portugal roared into their first major final as goals from midfielders Cristiano Ronaldo and Maniche sealed a deserved 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in the first Euro 2004 semifinal.

Nineteen-year-old Ronaldo headed home a Deco corner after 26 minutes and Maniche blasted in a stunning 58th-minute second to send the Alvalade Stadium and the entire nation wild.

The disappointing Dutch were given brief hope by Jorge Andrade's 63rd-minute own goal but were outclassed by the Portuguese and have now lost four of their five European Championship semifinals.

Portugal, defeated in the 1984 and 2000 European Championship semis and in the last four at the 1966 World Cup, will play Greece or the Czech Republic in Sunday's final in Lisbon.

The win continued Portugal's recovery from their opening day loss to Greece. They can now emulate the Netherlands in 1988 by winning the title after losing their first game.

Portugal, inspired by Luis Figo in his 109th international, took a deserved lead when Ronaldo was inexplicably left unmarked at a Deco corner to power a header past the rooted Edwin van der Sar from close range.

Curling shot

Striker Pauleta, who missed the quarterfinal win over England through suspension, should have buried a Maniche cross after 35 minutes following a great build-up but shot straight at Van der Sar, while Figo hit the post with a superb curling effort four minutes before the break.

Dutch coach Dick Advocaat threw on striker Roy Makaay for the second half in place of the ineffective Marc Overmars and attacking midfielder Rafael van der Vaart for defender Wilfred Bouma in an effort to boost his attack.

It was Portugal who should have scored again, however, when Pauleta shot straight at Van der Sar when clean through.

Maniche showed the center forward how to finish soon after though when he sent a wonderful 20-meter shot arcing beyond Van der Sar following a short corner.

The Netherlands got back into the game five minutes later when center back Andrade, trying to cut out a from Giovanni van Bronckhorst cross aimed at striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, succeeded only in looping the ball over Ricardo and into his own net.

The hosts had gone out at the semifinal stage in the last four European Championships but Portugal ended that run by defending solidly for the remainder of the game to set off another sleepless night for the residents of Lisbon.

Portugal captain Luis Figo found it hard to express his feelings after leading the hosts into the final.

"It's difficult to explain in one word the emotion I feel right now," Figo told reporters. "We've suffered a lot to reach the final in our own country. We cannot wish for anything more than this.

"We had the best chances to score more goals. I think the team is really happy with this performance.

"I think Portugal have fantastic players, young players and the country must be happy with the future because we can have a great team.

"I think it is a lot of pressure, it's not easy of course but I'm happy with this performance and I'm happy for the country we are in the final."

Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said reaching the Euro 2004 final with Portugal was a greater thrill than winning the World Cup with Brazil.

"I have to congratulate this team and my players. They won the under-20 championship in 1991 in Lisbon and there are people from that time here again like Rui Costa and Luis Figo.

Magical day

"This Portugal team has now made history and for me personally this is also a special day. It was two years ago that I won the World Cup in Brazil in Japan. For me this is a magical day.

"It's very different. When I won the World Cup with Brazil, they had won it already four times.

"For the record, this is more important to me because Portugal have never been to a final before."

"We suffered a lot, and when it was over, it was over," said Scolari after the Dutch threatened to grab an equalizer in the dying minutes.

"We've got a tough team, we've got a competitive team. But the people that deserve the congratulations are the people, the fans, because they were fantastic."

Meanwhile, Netherlands striker Ruud van Nistelrooy was unhappy with the performance of Swedish referee Anders Frisk after the defeat.

"It's unbelievable how the referee ruled everything in favor of Portugal. He was a real home whistler," said the frustrated Van Nistelrooy. "Every 50-50 situation was for them but we cannot do anything about it."

Van Nistelrooy said Portugal deserved to be ahead at halftime through a Cristiano Ronaldo header after 26 minutes.

"The 1-0 was deserved because we hardly showed our strength in attack. It was hard to get chances. It was hard to get into the game.

"We fought back to 2-1 but it didn't work out the way we wanted," added Van Nistelrooy. "They had the better chances. it's tough losing like this but we had problems playing our own game. In the second half we played for all or nothing."

Asked whether Portugal had outclassed the Dutch, Van Nistelrooy said: "It's hard to say. We gave everything and our supporters here and at home were great... It's a bitter pill.

"I'm really down but maybe we have to say that Portugal just played better in this match. All of us gave everything for the fans over here and at home. Reaching the semifinal is a good achievement but we came to reach the final."


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