Portuguese and Dutch break record of shame

Portugal and the Netherlands broke an unwanted World Cup record with 4 red cards and 16 yellow cards issued by the referee.

Portugal and the Netherlands broke an unwanted World Cup record on Sunday with the number of cards issued by the referee.

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Russian referee Valentin Ivanov sent four players off - Deco and Costinha for Portugal, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Khalid Boulahrouz for the Dutch - for two bookable offences while eight others were booked.

Portuguese captain Luis Figo could also face suspension along with Deco and Costinha for the quarter-final clash with England as he was booked for headbutting Mark van Bommel - though the victim overreacted.

For the record, Portugal won the match 1-0, and the scorer Maniche blamed the referee for the number of cards wielded.

"The referee did not contribute to the spectacle. I don't think that it was such a violent match to merit so many sendings off," said Maniche, who also scored a superb goal when Portugal ousted the Dutch in the Euro 2004 semi-finals.