Surprise Czech victory

KAREL POBORSKI proved you do not need extra time to score a truly golden goal as the one time no hopers from the Czech Republic amazingly booked a place in the last four.

The long haired Slavia Prague midfielder showed up the preening Portuguese as toothless tigers with a wonderful piece of inspirational brilliance to claim his first international goal and light up Villa Park.

But whether coach Dusan Uhrin will be able to pick a side for the semi final with France at Old Trafford on Wednesday - let alone one good enough to end their 7-game unbeaten run - is a major question, after German referee Hellmut Krug ripped the heart out of his team.

Krug booked a staggering nine players, five of them Czechs in a game in which few fouls were worthy of the name, and sent off Radek Latal, who with Jan Suchoparek, midfielder Radek Bejbl and striker Pavel Kuka arc all ruled out of the semi final.

Poborski, at least, will be there and it was his moment of inspiration after 53 minutes which gave the side, which lost to Luxembourg and drew with Malta in the qualifiers, their best European Championship performance since beating West Germany on penalties to win in Belgrade in 1976.

That title winning match was sealed by the calmest of chipped spot kicks by Antonin Panenka, and Poborski's genius was from the same school.

Perhaps fortune favoured him in the run which took him through four Portuguese defenders, but once he got into the box it was sheer class, wrapping his right foot under the ball and lofting it over the stranded Vitor Baia into the net.

And while the Portuguese had the lion's share of possession, they only had themselves to blame for their exit with an inability to turn their delightful passing into the hard currency of goals costing them clear.

Antonio Oliviera's side were a joy to watch, but where it mattered - in the last third - they lacked real belief.

Suchoparek knew he would be out after 51 seconds, carded for fouling Juventus ace Paulo Sousa, who, like Fiorentina's gifted Rui Costa, flattered only to deceive.

And for all their possession, it was one touch too many, one dribble too far, with the directness of the Czechs in stark contrast.

Sporting Lisbon midfielder Oceano did have two early shots, and Parma's Fernando Couto headed at Petr Kouba, but the goalkeeper's only save foiled Sa Pinto mid way through the first half.

By this stage the card count was mounting, Krug eventually matching David Elleray's tally from the Czechs' 2-0 defeat by Germany.

The Czechs' best hope appeared to be to exploit the pace of Poborski - one run and cross towards lone striker Kuka had caused first half panic - and so it proved eight minutes after the restart.

Paulo Sousa, Helder and Couto were left trailing as Poborski picked the perfect moment and suddenly panic overtook the Portuguese, their temperament questioned and found wanting.

And while the referee did his best to spoil the game - although Latal's second card, for a lunge on substitute Antonio Folha did seem more justified than some - the disciplined Czechs began to look composed as well.

Celtic's Jorge Cadete might have saved it at the death when he came between two defenders onto Folha's cross, but his finish matched that of his colleagues, a glancing header wide from eight yards.

The Czechs deserved their moment of triumph as they marched towards their small band of fans at the Holte End. Those brave enough to take the 80-1 on offer at the start of the tournament are now holding onto their betting slips.