Red salute on Valentin’s night

Portugal booked their place in the World Cup quarterfinals with a bruising and bad-tempered 1-0 win over Netherlands at the Frankenstadion on Sunday.

Portugal booked their place in the World Cup quarterfinals with a bruising and bad-tempered 1-0 win over Netherlands at the Frankenstadion on Sunday.

In a dramatic and explosive game marked by a flurry of yellow cards and four reds, a record for a match at any World Cup finals, Portugal clung on to the advantage they earned when Maniche fired them ahead after only 23 minutes. Despite the dismissals of Portuguese midfielders Costinho and Deco plus Dutch defenders Khalid Boulahrouz and Giovanni van Bronckhorst by Russian referee Valentin Ivanov, it was a contest of high-drama and much attacking play.

“All I can think about today is this heroic, marvellous victory,” said Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. “I’m happy.”

Captain Figo added: “Our team was good tactically against a difficult side. When we ended up with 10 we were forced to make sacrifices, lots of work, run double. This team is fantastic.”

Eight players were booked in addition to the four sent off in a match that almost descended into farce at the end with the players becoming increasingly frustrated as the referee repeatedly stopped the action to brandish yellow and red cards.

“It is a pity the referee made a mess of this game,” said Netherlands coach Marco van Basten. “I think in the second half we only played 20 or 25 minutes of football.”

16 Yellow 4 Red Cards

Germany 2006 has showcased everything from sublime skill to ridiculous tackle. The stream of yellow and red cards in the World Cup has surpassed all records, no wonder soccer’s highest officials, team officials and players have their own take on the referees. The second round clash between Portugal and the Netherlands will go down as one of the worst matches ever as far as team spirit and discipline are concerned. Russian referee Valentin Ivanov’s (right) handed out a record-tying 16 yellow cards and an unprecedented four reds

Red Sunday

Story continues below this ad

Portugal: Costinha 45’, Deco 78’ Netherlands: Khalid Boulahrouz 63’, Giovanni van Bronckhorst 90’
And yellow also to: Maniche, Petit, Figo, Ricardo and Nuno Valente (Portugal); Mark van Bommel, Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart (Netherlands)

Not-so-great record

There were 24 red and 297 yellow cards handed out in the first 52 matches at Germany 2006, surpassing marks in any previous World Cup. And there’s still 11 matches remaining

Referees’ fate

The FIFA referees committee will meet Wednesday to decide which officials stay after Round II. Experienced English referee Graham Poll — who issued three yellow cards to the same Croatian player — is most likely to miss the cut.

FIFA’s defence

The players and coaches were warned at the beginning what would and would not be tolerated. Because the referees are being more consistent, the matches are more sporting and open — that is definitely the case, said its communication director

What others feel

Story continues below this ad

I think there could have been a yellow card for the referee
Joseph S Blatter, FIFA president

The game’s basics, legality and physicality are under threat. We might as well take up basketball if they are going to blow for every slight contact
Johann Vogel (Switzerland captain)

FOR THE RECORD: The Cup will never return to the days of 1970 when not a single player was sent off in the entire tournament.

Timothy Collings