Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has never been afraid to make risky substitutions.
When he replaced Luis Figo with Helder Postiga against England on Thursday, however, it seemed he might have taken one gamble too many.
Figo was playing his best game at Euro 2004 while Postiga had had a miserable season with Tottenham Hotspur, scoring only once in 19 outings after his $10 million move from Porto.
Yet within nine minutes Postiga had headed the hosts level after they had trailed for 80 minutes in a pulsating quarter-final.
The cross was provided by another substitute, Simao Sabrosa, and Portugal went ahead in extra-time when Rui Costa, the third player to come off the bench, scored one of the goals of the tournament.
Portugal went on to win 6-5 on penalties after the game ended 2-2 after extra-time.
Scolari, coach of 2002 world champions Brazil, has always had an uncanny knack of making the right substitutions at the right time but his run at Euro 2004 borders on the outrageous.
Five of Portugal's six goals in the competition have been scored by players brought on during the game.
Portugal made the last eight only thanks to a 1-0 win over Spain thanks to a goal by halftime substitute Nuno Gomes.
In previous games, Cristiano Ronaldo came off the bench to grab a consolation goal in the 2-1 defeat by Greece and Rui Costa did the same in the 2-0 win over Russia.
LUCKY SCOLARI
Scolari gave a sarcastic answer when asked if he was inspired or just plain lucky.
"As a lot of people say I don't work, so it's luck, a lot of luck," he said.
"I have won 16 lucky titles in my career," added 'Big Phil', who also won titles in his Brazilian homeland with Criciuma, Gremio and Palmeiras.
Although England supporters quietly sniggered when Postiga came on, his premier league experience and physical presence immediately gave Portugal's attack more variety as they tried desperately to break down the England defence.
And his international scoring record of four in nine outings is nothing to laugh about.
Rui Costa seems to have benefitted from being consigned to the bench.
The AC Milan player gave a pedestrian performance when he started the 2-1 defeat by Greece in the opening match but looked a different player against Russia and especially England.
"We were better from start to finish," he said. "I knew we could do damage through the middle.
"When I came on, I had two shots which went wide but I kept plugging away until I scored."
