Euro 2000 - Group A - England 2 Portugal 3

Portugal fought back from 2-0 down to beat England 3-2 in Eindhoven and take charge of Group A.

The England team took early charge of an exciting game but a second half goal from Nuno Gomes with a great finish into the roof of the net on 58 minutes gave Portugal what seemed an unlikely win half an hour before.

Portugal started the game badly and allowed Phil Neville to advance down the left and cross. The ball was allowed to reach David Beckham on the right hand side and he launched a sensational cross onto the head of Paul Scholes to give England a 3rd minute lead.

Rui Costa and Joao Pinto both sent in efforts shortly after to try and get back on terms with Pinto heading down and over the bar when David Seaman missed a Rui Costa cross in the 11th minute. Seaman looked poor all night but made a great diving save from a swerving Rui Costa shot in the 14th minute but England still looked dangerous on the break.

Michael Owen contributed his first real touch of the game to release Beckham on the right and he clipped in a 17th minute cross over the head of Scholes for Steve McManaman to sweep into the roof of the net for the second English goal.

Gomes forced a save from Seaman with a sharp drive in the 20th minute and only seconds later Portugal were back in the game as frail English defending allowed Luis Figo to get into the match.

The Barca star was allowed space to run from midfield and he launched a 25 metre drive into the corner of the net which was deflected away from Seaman by Tony Adams instep.

In the 35th minute Portugal drew level as Joao Pinto glanced a header across Seaman into the far corner after he reached an angled cross from the right by Rui Costa and English confidence was badly hit.

More trouble for England followed with knee injuries for Michael Owen and Steve McManaman and Owen's only remaining contribution to the game was a volley over the bar in the 40th minute.

Owen was replaced at half time with Emile Heskey but Seaman offered further encouragement for Portugal when he failed to reach a near post corner in the 46th minute and Joao Pinto came close to a second with a first time shot over the bar.

Alan Shearer almost scored in the 54th minute when Vitor Baia failed to claim a cross and the Newcastle player sent a header onto the roof of the net as he was challenged by the goalkeeper.

Nuno Gomes scored the winner in the 58th minute when he collected a through pass from Rui Costa with his right foot and swept the ball into the roof of the net with the outside of his right boot as Seaman advanced and the English defence tried to mark him down.

With the lead Portugal were content to play on the break with Figo leading the raids as England pressed forward but could find no shot on target.

Scholes had a header just wide in the 78th minute and two drives charged down when he was on the edge of the penalty area but Portugal had looked lost and survived to find weaknesses all over the England defence and were particularly encouraged by the display of Seaman whose place in the team is under serious threat after his failure to deal with crosses.

England will now have to go for a win against Germany on Saturday knowing another defeat will see them out of Euro 2000 after just two matches.

There are also injury doubts over Owen and McManaman and the first half hour against Portugal in Eindhoven may be remembered as the best it ever got for Kevin Keegan's team at this year's Euro finals.