The stakes were unbelievably high for host Portugal. A loss would have eliminated them from the tournament after Greece and Russia played to a 1-1 tie earlier in the evening.

With the victory over Russia secured by goals from Maniche and Rui Costa, the Portuguese need to win their June 20 matchup with Spain in order to advance to the quarterfinals. Russia became the first team to bow out of the tournament.

The Estadio da Luz in Lisbon was humming as sees of red-clad Portuguese fans urged their side on. Fueled by their desperation, Portugal started furiously, with Deco starting in the midfield in place of Rui Costa, who had a disappointing first game against Greece.

Deco sets up goal

The FC Porto star made his presence felt quickly, crossing the ball hard into the box where Maniche took the pass, turned and fired into the right corner of the net in the 7th minute.

The Portuguese goal, their first shot on goal, was met with loud cheers of relief as the players huddled by the right corner flag. Even goalie Ricardo made the trip across the field to join his teammates.

Portugal continued the pace against a somewhat shell-shocked Russian side. As in the first game, Figo played prominently in every move forward by the Portuguese. Russia surprised Figo's teammates with a counter-attack down the left side in the 15th minute. But Dmitri Alenichev stumbled in the box and Ricardo gathered up the pass.

The Russians proved dangerous only in counter-attacks, but they came few and far between.

Controversial red card

Portugal kept pressing forward and in the 45th minute, Pauleta was free in front of the goal. The charging Russian keeper Sergei Ovchinnikov freed Pauleta from the ball with his feet, but touched the ball with his hand outside of the penalty box. The action earned him a red card from Norwegian referee Terje Hauge.

The decision proved highly controversial, as replays showed Ovchinnikov made every effort to keep his hand free of the ball. But the call stood and Ovchinnikov was out of the game with Viacheslav Malafeev in to replace him. The red card meant Russia had to remove another player from the field, and they decided on Defensive midfielder Yevgeny Aldonin.

With a man advantage to start the second half, the Portuguese began combining nicely, and Deco's shot on goal in the 57th minute was saved by Malafeev, who would have a busy rest of the night ahead of him.

Russia's futile counters

The Russians did not take the decision lying down. A fan rushed onto the pitch in protest during the second half before being whisked away by security staff. His team used precision passing to pop up in front of the Portuguese goal a few times before the 60th minute.

Urged on by their anxious fans, the Portuguese pressed on. A nice combination in front of the Russian goal left Figo with a clear shot at the 2-0, but Malafeev got a hand on it and it hit the post. Deco's follow up flew high.

Brazilian coach Phil Scolari replaced Figo, who seemed a bit below his world-class form, in the 81st minute with phenomenon Crisitano Ronaldo.

Youngster dazzles again

The 19-year-old Manchester United player, who provided spark in Portugal's opening loss to the Greeks, got to work immediately. In the 89th minute his precision crosses finally found a target. Rui Costa completed a double-pass with Ronaldo and popped his cross into the Russian goal.

Fans inside the stadium and out erupted. Their home side had saved them from embarassment.