Portugal Gets Big Moment Instead of Brazil

Portugal's coach Luiz Felipe Scolari talks to his players during their training session in Marienfeld, Germany, Monday, July 3, 2006. Portugal will play against France in their World Cup semifinal match in Munich, on Wednesday, July 5th. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) (Mark J. Terrill - AP)

BADEN-BADEN, Germany -- A Portuguese-speaking team in the World Cup final four is almost always a given. Just not this one.

When it comes to soccer, the daddy is not nearly as a famous as the son. Brazil, a Portuguese colony until 1822, has five World Cup titles and famous stars sprinkled throughout Europe's top clubs.

Portugal has never won the World Cup. It hasn't even won a European Championship.

After beating England last weekend, Portugal meets 1998 champion France in the quarterfinals Wednesday in Munich, with the winner going on to face host Germany or Italy in Sunday's final. Brazil, meanwhile, is long gone after a 1-0 quarterfinals loss to France.

"It's a special moment for us and for all the Portuguese, and we don't want to disappoint neither the people nor ourselves," defender Miguel said Monday. "From the teams that are left, we always were the least favorites in the eyes of the media and fans in general."

Portugal, which lost to England in its only previous semifinal appearance in 1966, was a dark horse pick by some at the tournament in South Korea and Japan four years, led by a "Golden Generation" of stars. But it gave up three first-half goals to the United States and lost its opener 3-2, then was eliminated in its first-round finale when it gave up a 70th-minute goal, finished two men short and was defeated 1-0 by South Korea.

Luiz Felipe Scolari _ "Big Phil" _ was hired as coach that November, fresh off leading Brazil to its record fifth World Cup title. At the 2004 European Championship, which Portugal hosted, he took his team to its first major final. But the Portuguese were shocked 1-0 by Greece in one of the soccer's great upsets.

"We have to lift our chins up and look to the future," a tearful Cristiano Ronaldo said then. "This doesn't end here."

He was right.

Portugal came to this World Cup with a lower profile, and it beat Angola, Iran and Mexico in its relatively weak first-round group, joining Germany, Brazil and Spain as the only teams to go 3-0. Then the Portuguese outlasted the Netherlands 1-0 in a second-round game notable mostly for its World Cup record four red cards and record-tying 16 yellow cards. In its quarterfinal Saturday, Portugal beat England on penalty kicks, the same way it did in the Euro quarterfinals two years ago.

Scolari, who lists Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" as one of his favorite books, is trying to become the first coach to win World Cup titles with two nations. He had coached teams to a record 11 straight World Cup wins before the England match, which goes down as a tie in FIFA's books.

Dubbed a Gene Hackman-lookalike by the London tabloids, Scolari implores his teams from the sideline, yelling throughout matches and pumping arms. In April he turned down an approach from England's Football Association to become Sven-Goran Eriksson's successor later this summer.