Real Madrid teammates David Beckham and Luis Figo will fight with each other in Thursday’s Euro 2004 quarter final between England and Portugal. (AFP)

Lisbon: Whether it is the Rooney-mania sweeping through England or the Euro fever engulfing Portugal, something has to give in the Stadium of Light on Thursday night.

For the side that loses the first quarter final of this increasingly exhilarating tournament, the come-down from the highs of the first round promises to be brutal.

Expectations in both countries are running high, the anticipation of two of the most passionate sets of supporters in the world heightened by a common history of frustrating under-performance on the international stage.

The pressure on what remains of the ‘golden generation’ of Portuguese players to finally win a grown-up trophy is mirrored by England’s desire to make up for the missed opportunity of the last World Cup.

England fans will not need reminding that campaign ended at the quarter final stage, Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side unable to produce the imagination or the energy required to overcome a ten-man Brazil in the heat of Shizuoka, Japan.

Two years on, England have a fitter, more experienced squad that has been bolstered, to spectacular effect, by the introduction of Wayne Rooney as well as by the return of Gary Neville and Steven Gerrard, both of whom missed the World Cup through injury.

For Eriksson Thursday’s match offers the prospect of turning the tables on Luiz Felipe Scolari, the man who led Brazil past England and on to glory in Japan before taking over as Portugal’s coach.

Eriksson, as is his way, dismissed any suggestion he could be motivated by a personal quest for revenge. But he admits to regrets about how he handled his players after Michael Owen gave them the lead.

“If I could replay that game, I think that when we were 1-0 up, then in the last five minutes of the first-half, we should have played less optimistically. We should have tried very hard to go into half-time at 1-0 up. I told them that but a little bit too late.

“If you are a manager, you have to take responsibility. You can’t blame anyone else. I’m responsible for picking the team and making the tactics.”

Eriksson, however, expects Portugal, under Scolari, to play like the Brazil side who knocked them out of the World Cup.

“They are like Brazil in terms of technique,” Eriksson told reporters on Tuesday. “They are technically the best in Europe, they always have been.

“They have fantastic players with the ball... I think they will play as they always play, try to keep the ball, play one touch, two touches.

England look to have run into form at the right time but the pre-match omens are not all good for Eriksson’s men.

England have not beaten the hosts of a major tournament since the 1954 World Cup and the fluid passing of the Portuguese makes them exactly the kind of opponents their players traditionally struggle against as was illustrated in Euro 2000 when the English — admittedly then coached by Kevin Keegan — ended up losing 2-3 having led 2-0 in their first-round clash.

Then there are the uncertainties over a defence which has conceded four goals in three games, all of them from set-pieces.

In England’s favour is the Rooney-inspired momentum they have established by bouncing back from their opening defeat by France to beat Switzerland 3-0 and then Croatia 4-2.

Portugal are also on something of a roll after recovering from the shock of losing the opening match in the tournament to Greece with victories over Russia and Spain.

The latter, a 1-0 win which secured top spot in group A, was the hosts’ first competitive victory over their Iberian neighbours and has been hailed as a psychologically important one.

England’s players watched at their training camp on the outskirts of Lisbon and declared themselves impressed but not intimidated.

Amid all the diplomatic expressions of admiration for the skills of Deco, Luis Figo and Co., it was not hard to uncover a belief that failure to beat Portugal would represent a much bigger wasted opportunity than the defeat by Brazil two years ago.

Gerrard even appeared slightly affronted when the suggestion was put to him that Portugal’s home advantage might make them marginal favourites.

“No, I don’t think we are the underdogs,” the Liverpool midfielder bristled.

PROBABLE TEAMS

Portugal (4-4-2): 1-Ricardo; 13-Miguel, 16-Ricardo Carvalho, 4-Jorge Andrade, 14-Nuno Valente; 6-Costinha, 18-Maniche (or 8-Armando Petit), 7-Luis Figo, 20-Deco; 17-Cristiano Ronaldo, 21-Nuno Gomes.

England (4-4-2): 1-David James; 2-Gary Neville, 5-John Terry, 6-Sol Campbell, 3-Ashley Cole; 7-David Beckham, 11-Frank Lampard, 4-Steven Gerrard, 8-Paul Scholes; 9-Wayne Rooney, 10-Michael Owen.