Portugal resurrected their Euro 2004 football championship hopes and ended those of 10-man Russia with a 2-0 victory on Wednesday but will still need to beat neighbours Spain in their final group game to advance to the quarter-finals.
Portugal, playing with the fizz and freedom that was so markedly absent from their nervy opening defeat by Greece, won courtesy of a goal from midfielder Maniche after seven minutes and a late effort by substitute Rui Costa.
A poor Russian team had their goalkeeper sent off for the second successive match, though the red card for Sergei Ovchinnikov at the end of the first half for handball just outside the penalty area seemed harsh.
Russia's qualification hopes disappeared on the back of their ninth successive winless European Championship game -- an unwelcome tournament record reaching back to the 1988 final.
But while the Portugal fans went off into the Lisbon night full of cheer, the head-to-head qualification system means they will have to beat Spain in their final game in the same city on June 20 to reach the last eight.
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Wednesday's early result meant that effectively Portugal were playing knockout football from the kickoff against Russia.
NEW FACES
Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari had reacted to their poor display against Greece by bringing in three new faces and one of them, Brazilian-born Deco, had an immediate impact.
Brought in to replace stalwart Rui Costa in midfield, he slipped a lovely pass into the feet of Maniche and the Sporting Lisbon midfielder swivelled to shoot low past Ovchinnikov.
The relief felt by the crowd and players was almost palpable after the suffering in Porto last Saturday and the home side took control from then on.
Deco sent a volley over the bar, Pauleta was inches away from connecting with a Henrik Larsson-style diving header and defender Ricardo Carvalho sent a header over the bar.
Though they dropped off the pace later in the half, the result was effectively decided in the 45th minute when Ovchinnikov raced from his line to face Pauleta as the forward chased an errant back pass.
The keeper got a fair touch with his feet but, seemingly inadvertently, touched the loose ball with his arm and was shown an immediate red card by Norwegian referee Terje Hauge.
However, Portugal still found themselves forced to defend. Goalkeeper Ricardo was happy to punch out a stinging shot by Andrei Karyaka 10 minutes after the restart and only a brilliant tackle by Carvalho denied Alexander Kerzhakov a clear path to goal.
The scares seemed to spark Portugal into life and Luis Figo thought he had scored when he finished of a superb passing move with a firm low shot only for substitute keeper Viacheslav Malafeyev to brilliantly touch it on to a post.
But Rui Costa finally made sure of the victory when he knocked the ball home after a cross from fellow substitute Cristiano Ronaldo in the 89th minute.
Red card: Sergei Ovchinnikov (Russia) 45
Teams:
Russia: (4-4-1-1) 1-Sergei Ovchinnikov; 16-Vadim Yevseyev, 4-Alexei Smertin (captain), 21-Alexei Bugayev, 17-Dmitry Sennikov; 5-Andrei Karyaka (9-Dmitry Bulykin 79), 22-Yevgeny Aldonin (12-Vyacheslav Malafeyev 45+2), 15-Dmitry Alenichev, 20-Dmitry Loskov; 7-Marat Izmailov (19-Vladimir Bystrov 72); 11-Alexander Kerzhakov.
Portugal: (4-5-1) 1-Ricardo; 13-Miguel, 4-Jorge Andrade, 16-Ricardo Carvalho, 14-Nuno Valente; 6-Costinha, 18-Maniche, 7-Luis Figo (captain) (17-Cristiano Ronaldo 78), 10-Deco, 11-Simao (10-Rui Costa 63); 9-Pauleta (21-Nuno Gomes 57).
Referee: Terje Hauge (Norway)
Linesmen: Steinar Holvik (Norway), Ole Hermann Borgan (Norway)
