An unbelievable World Cup knockout clash between Portugal and Holland ended with Luiz Felipe Scolari barring the way for England and a spot in the semi-finals for the third major tournament running.

Just as in Shizuoka at the 2002 World Cup and Lisbon in Euro 2004, Scolari and

Sven-Goran Eriksson will go head to head at the quarter-final stage, with the

Swede desperately hoping it will be third time lucky.

And for once, fortune already appears to be smiling on Eriksson as Portugal

will be deprived of Costinha and, much more crucially, chief playmaker Deco

after the pair were dismissed in a stormy affair as both sides finished with

nine men.

A game containing everything good in the game, and plenty of the bad, was

settled by Maniche's first-half strike. By the time it ended, under-pressure

Russian referee Valentin Ivanov had produced an incredible 16 yellow cards -

equalling the all-time tournament record - plus four reds and been forced to

intervene in countless minor skirmishes which did little to foster the spirit of

friendship FIFA are so keen to promote.

And, through it all, Ruud van Nistelrooy remained on the bench, axed now by

his country as well as his club, with his future looking distinctly uncertain.

So closely matched were these two sides on paper and so enthralling - England

apart - has this World Cup been, it could have been anticipated there would be

no lack of incident.

Van Nistelrooy's omission provided the first talking point an hour before

kick-off.

Having dumped Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf, Patrick Kluivert and Roy Makaay

from his squad altogether, Van Basten has already shown himself to be no

respecter of reputations and Van Nistelrooy was paying the price for a series of

indifferent performances in Germany which were highlighted in public by his

coach earlier this week.

Van Nistelrooy's absence cost him an anticipated match-up with Manchester

United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo, the man with whom a training ground bust-up

is said to have led to his Old Trafford exile.

Not that Ronaldo lasted long, 34 minutes to be precise.

Marc van Bommel had already been cautioned for chopping down the winger when

Khalid Boulahrouz caught him with a vicious high tackle which warranted more

than the yellow card it received.

The deep gash to Ronaldo's thigh proved his agonised expression was no

over-exaggeration and although he made his way to the touchline for treatment on

two separate occasions, he eventually left the field for good in streams of

tears.

Fortunately for Portugal, the 21-year-old had already made a positive

contribution, darting between Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Wesley Sneijder to

seize possession before releasing Deco with an inspired pass.

The Barcelona man quickly crossed low, allowing Pauleta to lay a pass off to

Maniche. No longer wanted by Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, the midfielder skipped

inside Andre Ooijer and beat Edwin van der Sar with an impressive finish.

Ronaldo was not alone in being on the wrong end of crude tackles. Arjen

Robben's shoulder was the point of impact when Nuno Valente flew in to make a

high, studs-first challenge.

But it was Portugal who carried the greater attacking threat and the tie would

surely have been sealed had Van der Sar not saved instinctively with his legs

when Pauleta turned on to Simao's cross.

The value of the stop was heightened still further seconds later when Costinha

ridiculously stuck his arm out to intercept a pass bound for Van Persie. Having

already been booked, a red card was automatic.

A flurry of activity around the Portugal goal at the start of the second half

saw Phillip Cocu smash a shot against the underside of the bar and Ricardo

unconvincingly shovel a Van Bommel shot round the post.

Then, with the crime count mounting rapidly, Luis Figo was fortunate to escape

with a caution when he shoved his head - albeit with minor contact - into Van

Bommel's face.

Figo was also involved in the next incident, the one which sparked a mass

confrontation between both sets of players by the dug-outs as he went down after

being caught in the face by Boulahrouz's arm, prompting under-pressure referee

Ivanov to produce another red card.

Deco swiftly followed, booked twice in five minutes as chaos reigned, with Van

Bronckhorst also departing early in stoppage time.

Amid the carnage, Portugal's remaining nine players, marshalled by the

outstanding Ricardo Carvalho, somehow survived, although in the end they were

indebted to keeper Ricardo, who brilliantly denied Dirk Kuyt after Van

Nistelrooy's replacement had been put clean through.