THERE were times when you feared this one would go as it always seems to against Portugal.
England have a history of heartbreak against the Iberian nation.
Euro 2000, Euro 2004, World Cup 2000… take your pick.
But unlike those agonising near misses, here Lee Carsley’s Young Lions managed to negotiate their way through this Under-21 Euros quarter-final – just about.
Anthony Gordon’s close-range blast proved to be the difference to set up a semi-final against Israel in Batumi on Wednesday.
Yet Carsley’s side certainly did not have it all their own way here as they had done when breezing through the group stage with maximum points.
They were forced to rely on the woodwork and goalkeeper James Trafford’s reactions to hold on.
The relief at the end was obvious as the already subbed Noni Madueke and a few other team-mates raced on the pitch to celebrate.
But the nerves had shown right from kick off when Angel Gomes had kicked the ball before the referee had blown his whistle, while boss Carsley looked decidedly edgy all game.
The Young Lions chief usually takes in games coolly sat on his haunches from the corner of his technical area.
But here at times he paced to and from his bench more than normal and argued with the fourth official over the refereeing.
Portugal, watched on by their seniors’ boss Roberto Martinez, opted to sit back and allow England to dominate possession.
It almost caught them out inside four minutes when a beautiful team move involving Noni Madueke and Morgan Gibbs-White ended with Curtis Jones curling wide.
But Portugal, despite squeaking through their group thanks to a softly-awarded, 89th-minute penalty against Belgium, still had plenty of threats.
And on 14 minutes one well known to the Premier League almost put them ahead as Wolves’ Pedro Neto smacked a close-range shot towards the near post, only to be denied by a smart James Trafford stop.
Gordon claimed ahead of the game that this may be the best footballing side he has played in, praising the team’s build-up play around the box as “elite”.
That description was very fitting when England almost scored an amazing goal involving nigh-on every player near the half hour.
They patiently played out of defence and then broke on the counter-attack, moving it from the right with Madueke to the left to Ramsey, but sadly the Aston Villa man’s cutback was hacked away just as Gibbs-White was about to fire home.
Yet with this England team you always feel confident they will create more chances and six minutes later they did just that – and made it count.
Madueke flicked the ball behind Arsenal’s Nuno Tavares to Gibbs-White, whose ball across the box was dispatched emphatically by Gordon.
Yet some sloppy play almost cost England just before half-time as Tiago Dantas fired a goal-bound shot on the edge of the area – only to be denied by captain Taylor Harwood-Bellis’ stunning block.
The nerves were jangling even more after the break as England retreated into themselves and Portugal stepped it up.
Max Aarons was booked for taking out Francisco Conceicao – son of Portuguese legend Sergio – and Neto stung Trafford’s fingers with the resulting free-kick.
Sub Paulo Bernardo caused all sorts of problems when coming on, first heading just wide and then seeing a blast blocked by Levi Colwill’s brave intervention.
In between, Carsley suffered a big blow as Jacob Ramsey was forced off after taking a whack on the ankle.
The Aston Villa man tried to carry on but then realised his race was run when receiving possession, kicking it straight out and hobbling off the pitch.
The pressure was unrelenting as another Portuguese sub, powerful centre-forward Henrique Araujo, crashed a header against the crossbar.
Carsley tried to shore things up by introducing Ben Johnson, Oliver Skipp and, interestingly, the attack-minded Cole Palmer.
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST ONLINE CASINOS FOR 2023
With a minute to go, Neto had a free-kick right on the edge of the area after Chelsea new-boy Diego Moreira was tripped by Levi Colwill.
But thankfully the Wolves man blasted into the wall and then skewed the rebound wide, underlining once again how this time it was to be England’s night.
It was nervy, it was gnarly but in the end Carsley’s men got the job done.
