QUARTER FINAL

PORTUGAL v TURKEY

Portugal 2 Turkey 0

Well, the anthems did their bit to swell the chest and get the lump in the throat, but I hate this kick-off time and they'd closed the roof of the Amsterdam ArenA, when it wasn't even raining. It didn't seem like a football match, somehow. I found it very difficult to get into. I got the impression that the stadium was stuffy and it made me want to doze. You just cannot go to a football match without a nice breeze blowing on your face.

I went off the Portuguese a bit today - I don't know why - perhaps it's that they appeared a little arrogant, whereas the Turks, who I don't like at all, came over as being a happy, friendly bunch (apart from Sukur, who would never be happy, methinks. Why people are queuing up to sign him, I have no idea - the man is next to useless, in my opinion). There was a lot of needle though. And the ref (Dutch, Dick Jol) didn't have a clue. He booked five in the first half - all for nothings really - especially poor little Johnny Chicken who was booked for totally nothing - as the Turk rolled and rolled and rolled his way down the line. On the half hour, he really made a bloomer and sent off No.5 Alpay for (again) nothing. He had gone down with Couto and had just given him a tiny little innocuous nothing nudge. Unfortunately for him, one of Fernando's buddies chose that time to jump over him and kick him in the head. Couto collapsed, holding his face - and Mr Jol became obviously confused and sent off Alpay - had to feel sorry for him. Nuno Gomez scored on 43. A good, but simple header. The Turks kept threatening though - and, when with only 8 outfield men on the pitch (one was off with an injury), they got a penalty, you had to say, "serves you right Portugal" really - but Arif didn't exactly excel himself and Baia saved easily - twice (from a rebound too).

Nuno Gomez celebrates one of his goals with Figo

They brought on Sousa for Costinha, who had wasted a couple of glorious chances in the 1st half. They had played Conceicaio (Consayshah as our BBC commentator called him!) from the start in this game and had an extremely offensive line-up - you could imagine that the Turks might be totally humiliated. Portugal's second goal, again Gomez, came on 56 minutes, after some wonderful twiddling and a pin-point cross from Figo. That was it though. Just the two. They squandered so many chances, Portugal. I can't see them beating either France or Spain in the semis. They weren't even sexy today - not even a little bit tempting, imvho. The commentators said they "continued to dazzle", well they must've been doing it very fast, because I never noticed.

(Note to JCR!: If you ever stoop low enough to read this - apologies, for you might recognise some (most) of it! Sorry, I was so short of time - and it is the first time I've done it, truly! Maybe will change it later! :))

Every picture tells a story: Sergio Conceicao (left) and Hakan Sukur at the end of the match

Teams and things

Portugal: Baia, Costa, Couto, Dimas, Figo, Rui Costa (Capucho 86), Conceicao, Costinha (Sousa 46), Bento, Pinto, Gomes (Sa Pinto 75). Subs Not Used: Espinha, Quim, Jorge, Vidigal, Xavier, Beto, Pauleta, Secretario. Booked: Pinto, Couto, Rui Costa, Costinha, Sousa.

Turkey: Recber, Akyel, Penbe, Temizkanoglu (Yalcin 84), Ozalan, Unsal, Korkut, Buruk (Derelioglu 62), Havutcu, Erdem (Kaya 62), Sukur. Subs Not Used: Catkic, Tuncay, Ozkoylu, Izzet, Akman, Ercan. Sent Off: Ozalan (29). Booked: Buruk, Unsal, Temizkanoglu.

Att: 45,000
Ref: D Jol (Holland).

Match report from the Sunday Times

Gomes strikes kill off Turkey
Ian Hawkey in Amsterdam: Portugal 2 Turkey 0

EASY PICKINGS for the Portuguese. The purists' favourites will play Spain or France in Brussels on Wednesday and that it ought be a contest pleasing on the eye. Portugal played much nice, fluid football, but their opponents had effectively conceded the game by half time.

The Turkish defender, Alpay Ozalan, was sent off for raising an arm against Fernando Couto after half an hour and the Turks missed a penalty on the stroke of the interval. By then, Nuno Gomes had scored his first. He would soon add his second. So Turkey go home.

Portugal were always the likelier team to bring poetry to this contest provided they found their rhythm and rhyme. Coach Humberto Coelho suspected Turkey would try to disrupt that. It might not be pretty, he had predicted.

And Turkey did play it tough. Even before the dismissal of Alpay, Luis Figo had been on the end of a robust challenge from Fatih Akyel. There was no obvious malice in it, more a show of muscle.

Even with 11 against 11, Portugal were finding space and hinting at the telepathy between Figo, Rui Costa and Joćo Pinto which had so memorably undone England. The goalscoring exploits of Costinha and Sergio Conceiēao in the two subsequent wins had been rewarded.

Costinha might have scored twice in the first half, both times from Figo's teasing corners. On the first occasion, Figo delivered the ball over the heads of everybody and smack on to the right instep of his colleague inside the six-yard box. Costinha could hardly believe it. He connected well enough but Rustu, the goalkeeper, sprang across to make a superb save.

Costinha headed another Figo corner wide and Portugal were just beginning to give the impression of carelessness with their superior possession. Their movement was sometimes sweet, notably when Figo fed Conceiēao via Joćo Pinto's exquisite dummy, but they gave the ball away, too. Figo nearly scored early on with a cross-cum-shot; Joćo Pinto stabbed a Rui Costa cross just wide at the near post. But Portugal might have gone behind when Couto was beaten by Hakan Sukur to a deep Ogun free-kick but the header flew wide.

In the 44th minute, Gomes struck. Loosely marked, he was picked out precisely by another fine Figo cross on the break. Gomes stooped into the header and Rustu was beaten.

The first half, long into stoppage time, held still more drama. Arif broke into the penalty area and Couto brought him down. Arif took a poor spot-kick and Vitor Baia dived the right way and scooped up the rebound.

Portugal brought Paulo Sousa into midfield at half time to increase their experience quotient and it was they who kept their cool. The first firecracker went off at the Turkish end of the stadium, and under the great conservatory roof of the futuristic ArenA, the smoke hung ominously.

There was no escape, nowhere for the outnumbered Turkey players to draw breath. Within minutes of the restart, Figo, operating effectively from both the left and right flanks, arched another corner on to the head of Couto, creating confusion in the Turkish defence. Another low Figo centre slipped just in front of Gomes oustretched foot.

Eleven minutes into the second half, Portugal scored their second. Gomes, without an international goal before this tournament, scored his second of the match, his third at Euro 2000.

Figo - surprise, surprise - set it up, bamboozling Hakan Unsal to slide a pass through to his centre-forward. The second and third firecrackers of the evening exploded, this time from the Portugal end.

Even before an hour had gone by, Portugal could have been four goals ahead. Figo added another long-range drive to one he had contributed in the first 45 minutes. This one also whistled just off target. Joćo Pinto, who had another fine game, belted a shot a foot past Rustu's right-hand post from the edge of the penalty area. Gomes watched his close range effort scrambled off the line by Suat Kaya.

Gomes missed once more, a touch on a left-wing Figo centre which went wide. He took his leave after 74 minutes to huge applause. The Benfica striker, 23, had launched Portuguese hopes, at least for another four days.

He has had a wonderful tournament so far and it would be churlish to suggest Gomes is a weak link.

Yet were there a centre-forward like Gabriel Batistuta - or even an Alan Shearer in his prime - among Rui Costa, Figo or Joćo Pinto's contemporaries, games like yesterday's would be ending 5-0 or 6-0.