Portugal survived a dreadful performance by red-card happy referee Valentin Ivanov to beat Holland 1-0 and set up a World Cup quarter-final meeting with England.
A well-worked 23rd-minute goal from Maniche secured victory, but the efforts of the players were overshadowed by the Russian official who managed to send off four players - two from each side - and book another eight, despite there being only 25 fouls in the match.
Portugal deserved their victory after showing more attacking flair than the Dutch, who dominated possession for long stages of the game.
However, coach Luiz Felipe Scolari faces an uphill task to put out a strong team to face England, as Costinha and Deco will be suspended following their red cards, while Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Figo could also be missing.
Ronaldo lasted just 34 minutes before limping off in tears with a thigh injury, while Figo could find himself in trouble with FIFA's disciplinary chiefs if the referee confirms he did not see a second-half head-butt aimed at Mark van Bommel.
The Oranje started well and Van Bommel, Arjen Robben and Giovanni van Bronckhorst all had shots on goal inside the first five minutes.Robin van Persie was also close to putting the Dutch ahead after surging through the middle of the Portuguese defence, but the game changed after 23 minutes.
Ronaldo, Deco and Pauleta were all involved in the build up before the ball reached Maniche just inside the Dutch penalty area. He side-stepped the challenges of Andre Ooijer and Khalid Boulahrouz before smashing the ball beyond the despairing dive of Edwin van der Sar.Joris Mathijsen squandered a great chance to equalise when he volleyed over from Van Persie's cross, before the Arsenal man waltzed through the Portuguese backline, leaving several defenders sprawling on the floor in his wake before firing inches wide of the target.
The Dutch received a major boost on the stroke of half-time when Costinha was shown a second yellow card for a needless handball, having earlier been booked for scything down Phillip Cocu.
The Netherlands started the second half strongly and should have equalised in the 49th minute, but Cocu smashed the ball against the crossbar when unmarked seven yards out.
The momentum swung back in Portugal's favour just after the hour mark when Boulahrouz was shown a second yellow card for an alleged elbow on Figo, whose play-acting convinced the referee to act.
From that point on it was the referee who dominated proceedings.
He managed to book three players for a harmless bout of pushing and shoving following an innocuous challenge by Deco on Robben.
Deco was one of those cautioned and was made to regret it when he was shown a second yellow card in mysterious circumstances in the 78th minute.
Marco van Basten's men racked up the pressure on the Portugal goal in the closing stages, with Dirk Kuyt and Wesley Sneijder both going close.
Inevitably the referee had the final say, showing Van Bronckhorst a harsh second yellow card deep in injury-time to set a World Cup finals record of four dismissals in one match.