Portugal, Italy Advance; Hagi Has Bad Finale
Entertaining and effective, Portugal is in the semifinals of the European Championship for the second time.
With dazzling passing and a free-flowing game that mesmerized undermanned Turkey and spectators alike, Portugal got two goals from Nuno Gomes off two splendid touches by Luis Figo to win, 2-0, Saturday at Amsterdam.
Italy also advanced to the semifinals with a 2-0 victory at Brussels, as Romania captain Gheorghe Hagi was ejected from his final international game.
Francesco Totti (33rd minute) and Filippo Inzaghi (43rd) scored for Italy, which plays Thursday against the winner of today’s quarterfinal between the Netherlands and Yugoslavia.
“Some thought reaching the quarterfinals was impossible, and we’re happy with what we’ve accomplished,” Italy Coach Dino Zoff said. “But we have to play much better.”
Portugal, which last played in the semifinals in 1984, will play Wednesday against the winner of today’s game between world champion France and Spain.
Turkey played two-thirds of the match a man down and never mounted a serious challenge against Portugal’s “golden boys,” the closest a European team has come to resembling Brazil at Euro 2000.
“We’re a very ambitious group,” Portugal’s Costinha said.
One minute before halftime, Portuguese creativity finally broke down Turkey’s defensive wall when Figo, again the star of the match, sent a low bouncing cross into the goal area and Gomes dived low to deflect it past goalie Rustu Recber.
In the 56th minute, Figo faked past Hakan Unsal and put a precision pass on the foot of the unmarked Gomes, who had only to tap it into the empty net.
Turkey had been down a man since the 29th minute when Alpay Ozalan was sent off for hitting Fernando Couto when both were down after a duel for the ball in the air.
“When you play against a team like Portugal with 10 men it’s always going to be difficult,” Turkey’s Muzzy Izzet said. “The sending off was a turning point.”
The Turks tried to overcome their one-man deficit and could have gotten back in the match in stoppage time at the end of the first half.
Turkey got a penalty shot after a bad clearance by Jorge Costa forced Couto to bring down Arif Erdem.
The midfielder took the penalty shot and kicked it straight at goalie Vitor Baia. The deflected shot reached Hakan Sukur, but Baia smothered it to protect Portugal’s lead.
For the first time in the European Championship, a match was played effectively indoors because the roof at the 50,000-capacity ArenA stadium was closed to keep out the rain.
Hagi, playing his 125th game for Romania, was given a yellow card early in the second half against Italy for a foul that forced Antonio Conte out of the game. Hagi was ejected by Portuguese referee Vitor Manuel Melo in the 60th minute after diving in an attempt to get a penalty kick, and then arguing when he didn’t get the call.
Romania was missing team captain Gheorghe Popescu, out of the competition because of a ruptured calf muscle, and Cosmin Contra, Dan Petrescu and Adrian Ilie, all serving one-game suspensions.
Euro Soccer 2000
TODAY’S QUARTERFINALS
* Yugoslavia at Netherlands
* Spain vs. France
WEDNESDAY’S SEMIFINAL
* Portugal vs. Spain-France winner
THURSDAY’S SEMIFINAL
* Italy vs. Netherlands-Yugoslavia winner
SUNDAY, JULY 2, CHAMPIONSHIP
* Semifinal winners at Rotterdam, Netherlands