England out, Portugal go through

Ricardo Pereira made three saves in the penalty shootout Saturday to help Portugal beat England 3-1 after a scoreless draw and send his team into the World Cup semifinals.

Simao Sabrosa, Helder Postiga and Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the shootout. Only Owen Hargreaves scored for England, which played for much of the match without David Beckham and Wayne Rooney.

"It was great. I managed to stop three of them. I'm really happy," Ricardo said.

Simao scored the first penalty kick before Frank Lampard's shot was saved by Ricardo. Hugo Viana hit the post, and Hargreaves leveled it with a shot to the left.

Armando Petit followed with another miss, but Ricardo saved a shot from Steven Gerrard to keep it 1-1.

Postiga scored the second goal and Ricardo made another big save on Jamie Carragher, deflecting his shot off the crossbar and out.

"I'm really sorry about the penalties," said England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, who was coaching his last match for the team.

"We have practiced them so much I don't know what else we could have done." Ronaldo easily shot into the top right corner to win the match.

"I'm full of confidence and I shoot strong," Ronaldo said of his penalty. "I was tired in the second half but I haven't played for a week so it was OK." Portugal, which beat England in a shootout in the quarterfinals of the 2004 European Championship, will play either Brazil or France in the semifinals on Wednesday in Munich.

"We have four days to recover now so I think everyone's going to be ready," Ronaldo said.

Beckham was taken off in the 52nd minute with what appeared to be an injured leg, and Rooney was red-carded in the 62nd after getting tangled up with a Portuguese player and then pushing Ronaldo just a few steps from Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo.

"We started the second half really strongly and we controlled the game but then we had problems," Eriksson said. "I think we held up the game very well.

"Congratulations to Portugal, but our boys deserved better," Eriksson added. "They fought enormously when they were 10 against 11. It hurts incredibly." Beckham left seven minutes into the second half, about five minutes after Nuno Valente stepped on his right ankle during a challenge. Beckham tried to play on but was hobbled.

After he was replaced by Aaron Lennon, Beckham sat on the bench, his head bent over covered by his hands, appearing to be in tears.

He later sat on the ground stretching out his leg with towels covering it.

After losing its captain, England seemed to gain new energy and its thousands of fans started singing louder and longer, trying to inspire their team with a rousing version of "Rule, Britannia!" Lampard then had an open volley from Gerrard in the 53rd, but mistimed his shot and sent it into the ground.

Lennon made a deft move in the 59th minute, cutting around defenders to send the ball to Rooney in the middle. But he mis-hit it, and Ashley Cole's attempt went over the bar.

Rooney was then sent off after getting tied up with Ricardo Carvalho at midfield, hooking his arm around his thigh and stomping on him. As Carvalho was down on the field, Ronaldo came over and Rooney pushed him.

Rooney had a look of disbelief on his face when he was shown the red card by Elizondo - the same referee who ejected Beckham during Manchester United's opener in the 2000 World Club Championship in Brazil.

Peter Crouch came on for Joe Cole in the 65th, taking over from Rooney as England's lone striker.

Luis Figo then had a great chance for Portugal in the 78th, but goalkeeper Paul Robinson dived right and just was able to push the ball away. At the other end, Lampard had a booming free kick in the 83rd that Ricardo blocked with a dive, and Lennon's shot off the rebound didn't have enough pace and also was stopped by the goalkeeper.

Both teams had chances in extra time, and Postiga headed the ball into the net in the 106th minute but was offsides.

Portugal started Tiago and Petit in place of playmaker Deco and defender Costinha, who were suspended following ejections in the second-round win over the Netherlands. Ronaldo started after missing training most of last week with a bruised thigh.

Gary Neville returned to right back for England after missing three games with a calf injury, and Owen Hargreaves moved up to defensive midfield, with Michael Carrick going to the bench.

There were few good chances in a dull first half that saw England press in the early part but then seem to lose energy in the heat. There wasn't even a corner kick until the 41st minute.

Petit, who got a yellow card in the 44th minute, will miss the semifinals.

Rooney had a 20-meter (yard) shot in the ninth minute that Ricardo stopped, and Robinson pounced on the ball four minutes later when it bounced off English defenders and went to Tiago, who couldn't get off a shot. Figo was wide to the far post on a curling shot in the 40th.

"I was sure these players could do it and take us to the final.

I'm really sorry for the players and fans that we could not give them a final. They deserved it," Eriksson said.

Full report to follow

England: Robinson, Neville, Terry, Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Hargreaves, Beckham (Lennon 51), Gerrard, Lampard, Joe Cole (Crouch 65), Rooney, Lennon (Carragher 118).
Subs Not Used: Campbell, James, Bridge, Jenas, Carrick, Downing, Carson, Walcott. Sent Off: Rooney (62).

Booked: Terry, Hargreaves.

Portugal: Ricardo, Miguel, Meira, Ricardo Carvalho, Nuno Valente, Figo (Postiga 86), Maniche, Petit, Tiago (Viana 74), Ronaldo, Pauleta (Simao 63).
Subs Not Used: Paulo Ferreira, Caneira, Ricardo Costa, Quim, Boa Morte, Nuno Gomes, Paulo Santos.

Booked: Petit, Ricardo Carvalho.

Att: 52,000.

Ref: Horacio Marcelo Elizondo (Argentina).
Pitch condition: ideal
Weather: humid
Attendance: 52,000