In the first quarterfinal of Euro 2008, an inspired performance from Germany saw them dump Euro 2004 runners up Portugal out of the tournament. Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose and Michael Ballack scored for the 1996 winners, while skipper Nuno Gomes and Helder Postiga scored for the Portuguese in what was to be Luis Felipe Scolari’s last game in charge.

Germany, with Joachim Loew watching from the stands, gave Simon Rolfes his first start of the tournament. Clements Fritz was dropped to the bench as Bastian Schweinsteiger came back after serving a one game suspension. In the absence of Torsten Frings, Thomas Hitzlsperger came in. Portugal stuck to the same 11 that beat Turkey and the Czech Republic.

Schweinsteiger had promised to atone for his suspension, and the Bayern Munich medio did so by giving the Germans a shock lead in the 23^rd minute. Lukas Podolski raced down the left, and his low cross was met by Schweinsteiger, who beat Paulo Ferreira for pace and slotted past Ricardo. Just as the Portuguese were taking in the fact that they were a goal down, the Germans scored the second. Portugal have always shown a defensive weakness against set pieces in this tournament, and it was to prove to be their downfall. The Germans, with their tall, strong players, exploited it perfectly. Cristiano Ronaldo forgot his marking duties, and Miroslav Klose gleefully headed home from Schweinsteiger’s freekick.

Nuno Gomes pulled one back for Portugal just before half time after Jens Lehmann had deflected Cristiano Ronaldo’s shot into his path. As the second half began, Portugal attacked in search of the equalizer. But instead of squaring things, they were down by another goal when Ballack headed past an out of position Ricardo from a Schweinsteiger freekick. Portugal were furious, for it seemed that Ballack had shoved Paulo Ferreira in the back before scoring, but the Swedish referee chose to ignore it.

The Germans stuck to their task, although Portugal dominated the game in terms of attacking shots and possession, they were unable to find their way past the solid Germans. Helder Postiga gave Scolari’s side some hope with a late goal, but it turned out to be nothing more than consolation as the Germans held on to clinch a semifinal meeting with either Turkey or Croatia.