Luis Figo lived up to his billing as one of the stars of Euro 2000 by ignoring the indiscipline in this game to create the two goals, scored by the predator Nuno Gomes, that take Portugal to their first international semi-final since 1984.

The elegance of the Portuguese was shown by Figo's right-wing sorcery that created a heading chance and a tap-in for Nuno Gomes, who reminds one of Gary Lineker in the penalty box. The Benfica forward scored twice to punish Turkey's Arif Erdem, who missed a gift-wrapped chance to equalise on half-time when blasting a penalty too close to Vitor Baia in the Portugal goal.

That miss was one of two crucial moments in the first half that helped shape the Portuguese victory, or should that be the Turkish defeat.

For the first of the Euro 2000 quarter-finals was ruined by play-acting by the Portugal defender Fernando Couto, who made the most of an aerial challenge by Turkish defender Alpay to trick Dutch referee Dick Jol into sending the player off after half an hour.

The harsh decision only seemed to work against the favourites at first, as they proceded to miss chances with Costinha's 40th minute header wide the most glaring after goalkeeper Rustu has lost his bearings. However, relief was evident when Nuno Gomes scored his second of the tournament with a stooping header from Figo's inviting cross.

It seemed as if some justice would be done when the villainous Couto fouled Arif five minutes into injury-time after an error by Jorge Costa, but a dramatic half ended with Baia's penalty save from Arif, who tried to blast the ball to the goalkeeper's right. So Portugal went in a goal and a player to the good.

The first half card count saw five yellow cards shown, with Costinha's foul on Tayfun being the worst as Portuguese frustration mounted before the goal. They had won so many friends in the first round of matches with their fluent play, but were frustrated by the Turkish mass defending. Portugal lost their heads before Figo made Gomes' chance to remind everyone why we had taken them to our hearts.

Portugal found a place for German hat-trick hero Sergio Conceicao, and the introduction of Costinha, the scorer of the late winner against Romania. Jose Vidigal and Everton's Abel Xavier were the only players out from the side that started the competiton against England.

For Turkey, Hakan Sukur was declared fit after a scare in training and joined Arif in attack, despite his Galatasaray team-mate being stretchered off after the wild challenge of Filip De Wilde during the famous win over Belgium.

The Portuguese started the brighter going forward, and a fine run by Rio Costa was met by one of the tackles of the tournament from Okan just outside his own area. A perfectly accurate tackle - mistimed a millisecond either way - would have brought a booking and conceded a dangerous free-kick as the Fiorentina man started well.

In the 17th minute Rui Costa swapped passes with Joao Pinto only for captain Ogun to block bravely, and a minute later Humberto Coelho's side squandered a great opportunity.

From a left-wing Figo corner missed by all at the near post, the unmarked Costinha took a little too long to steady himself giving Rustu the chance to make a fine save moving across from the centre of the goal. Costinha was only six yards out but Rustu made the block, having to be treated as the ball cannoned into his ribcage.

It would be an unhappy match for Costinha, who would miss a fine chance just two minutes before Nuno Gomes' opener. His 40th minute header wide was even more glaring after goalkeeper Rustu has lost his bearings, and Costinha was replaced at half-time by Paulo Sousa of Parma.

Figo had been quiet until an audacious piece of skill in the 23rd minute. A slight movement took him past two Turkish defenders 25 yards out, but the following shot, though well driven, was two yards wide of the diving Rustu's right-hand post.

The first threat from the underdogs came from Sukur, who reached Ogun's free-kick ahead of Couto. Vitor Baia, who continues to worry with his poor decision-making, had neither came nor stayed on his line but the header drifted wide despite the Porto goalkeeper's positional howler.

Joao Pinto had barely been in the game and his booking in the 28th minute showed his frustration as he clipped Hakan Unsal, who made the most of his chance to fall.

The Turks felt they have had the worst of the refereeing decisions in Euro 2000, with complaints about the Italian penalty in the first game of the competition. Now the loss of their best defender, Alpay, would leave them with the proverbial mountain to climb, even in these Lowlands. His contact with Couto had been minimal, and it was actually a Portuguese boot that collided with Couto's clutched head.

Tempers were getting very frayed, with Rui Costa booked for a dive after Ogun had fiercely demonstrated with that despicable trend to show a card to the referee.

But the favourites were having to work hard merely to create half-chances, while the willingness of Arif to join Sukur on the break meant that the Portuguese were not able to relax at half-time, despite the numerical advantage.

The game started to be too easy for Portugal, with Turkey's decision to take off the impressive Okan a surprise. Rio Costa robbed Fatih and beautifully created a chance for Nuno Gomes to join Savo Milosevic at the top of the goalscoring charts, but his shot was straight at Rustu.

The miss of the tournament came from central defender Jorge Costa, who sliced across the most open of goals from two yards, but as the game had became a training exercise for Portugal, it was only a matter of time before a third goal came.

But it never did as Portugal showed the lack of a killer instinct which may cost them in later games. Rui Costa, Bento, Nuno Gomes and Sa Pinto all failed when guilty of trying to walk the ball home. They never looked like losing the game despite that profligacy, though Tayfur nearly headed home Ergun's cross with 11 minutes left.