PORTO, Portugal, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Portugal clinched a

place at the Euro 2008 finals with a 0-0 draw against Finland on

Wednesday.

Portugal, runners-up on home soil in 2004, needed a point to

go through behind Poland in Group A.

'We did not expect many difficulties (in qualifying) but we

had many injuries during the campaign,' said Portugal coach Luiz

Felipe Scolari, who returned to the bench after completing his

three-match ban for an assault on Serbian player Ivica

Dragutinovic in September.

'As for the future, we have to improve with the return of

our injured players and prepare a good team for the finals.'

In a rainy match, neither side had many scoring

opportunities in the first half.

Brazilian-born defender Pepe, making his debut after being

granted Portuguese citizenship, headed the ball into Finland's

net from a cross by Ricardo Quaresma after 19 minutes but the

goal was disallowed for a foul on keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.

In the second half, Portugal put the Finland defence under

pressure but the home side squandered their chances. Midfielder

Maniche wasted the best opportunity when he shot wide from

Cristiano Ronaldo's cross.

Finland, who had an outside chance of qualifying if they

won, went close to snatching victory late on but Mikael

Forssell's shot was turned away by keeper Ricardo.

'It was complicated but everyone tried. I think we did not

have any luck. We fought hard and left 50,000 people (stadium

capacity) nervous,' Finland coach Roy Hodgson said.

Commenting on his future as Finland coach, Englishman

Hodgson added: 'The president wants me to stay, but we will talk

about it later.' Hodgson has been linked with taking over as

Ireland manager.