The beautiful football played by Humberto Coelho's team in their opening Group A game against England was nowhere to be seen in Arnhem.

But Costinha came off the bench in the 87th minute and four minutes later had become a national hero.

He leapt inside a crowded penalty area to nod Luis Figo's left-wing free-kick past Bogdan Stelea just as both teams looked to have settled for a point each.

It sent the thousands of Portugal fans wild with delight but for Romania, and for Gheorghe Hagi - who could have played his final game in a major competition - it was sheer agony

Hagi ruled himself out of Tuesday's game with England when he picked up his second booking of Euro 2000, 16 minutes into the game against Portugal for a needless foul on Joao Pinto.

Together with the yellow card he received for dissent against Germany, five days earlier, it means his talents will be absent in Charleroi.

The Galatasaray midfielder, sent off for a push on Tony Adams in the European Cup Winners' Cup final, last month, makes as many headlines with his suspect temperament in the twilight of his career as he does with his magical feet.

But he almost produced a goal out of nothing with an audacious left-foot shot from 30 yards, four minutes from time, which required a hurried save from Vitor Baia to keep the game level.

Both Romania and Portugal had impressed in their opening games. England were on the wrong end of a slick comeback from Coelho's team and Germany considered themselves fortunate to escape with a 1-1 draw against the Romanians.

Portugal started in Arnhem where they had left off in Eindhoven with Figo orchestrating affairs. He early offered glimpses of his class without finding the killer touch before the game lost its way.

Figo drifted between Gheorghe Popescu, playing his 100th international, and Cosmin Contra in the second minute