Nuno Gomes may have scored in each half but it was Luis Figo who was the star of the show for Humberto Coelho's side against a Turkey outfit that never recovered from the 29th-minute dismissal of Fatih Alpay.

The Barcelona midfielder set up both goals and hardly put a foot wrong all afternoon under the closed roof in Amsterdam as Portugal revived the form that saw them trounce England and Germany in the group stages.

The Portuguese, winners of all three of their group matches, looked by far the sharper side even before Fatih Alpay's dismissal, but Gomes's opening goal came just as the Portuguese were struggling to press home their numerical advantage.

The red card in the 29th minute signaled an end to the entertaining, fluent play that marked the opening stages, especially from the outstanding Figo, and Portugal looked ill at ease against the ten men. Once the victory was secure at 2-0 though, Portugal looked a class apart.

Portugal started with their five goalscorers in the tournament so far - Figo, Joao Pinto, Nuno Gomes, Costinha and Sergio Conceicao.

Meanwhile Turkey showed three changes from the side which eliminated hosts Belgium. Tayfur Havutcu replaced the sent-home Tugay Kerimoglu while Hakan Unsal and Ergun Penbe were restored to Mustapha Denizli's starting line-up.

Figo showed a glimpse of the talent which had been the undoing of England in the group stages in the 8th minute when he waltzed past Okan but his beautifully flighted cross just eluded Gomes.

The Portuguese were full of creative touches in the middle third of the field but were not quite able to find the final decisive pass.

Figo's corner was flicked to the unmarked Costinha at the far post and the defender seemed certain to score on 18 minutes but Turkey goalkeeper Rustu reacted brilliantly to block his close-range effort.

Then the inspirational Barcelona winger skinned two Turkey defenders before his 25-yard shot went feet wide. He was beginning to stamp his mark on the game.

Turkey's best chance of the half fell to Hakan Sukur but the new Inter Milan striker's header from Okan's free-kick floated inches over Vitor Baia's cross bar.

As the temperature began to rise Turkey were reduced to ten men when Fatih Alpay was given his marching orders for retaliating after an aerial challenge with Fernando Couto. Replays showed the decision to be harsh.

Okan also went into referee Dick Jol's book as the Turks continued to express their dissatisfaction with the dismissal of Fatih.

But the ten men of Portugal found their numerical advantage hard going. The passing became scrappy, the fluency was gone and the half deteriorated into a midfield battle.

The yellow cards came thick and fast, but just when the Turks were looking for the half-time whistle, Figo broke clear down the right and Gomes, having shrugged off his marker, headed past Rustu to give Portugal the lead.

Joao Pinto should have made it two moments later when he arrived late to head wide from Rui Costa's cross.

Then five minutes into stoppage time Couto upended Arif in the box and referee Jol awarded the penalty. Baia dived well to his right to save Arif's effort and Portugal went into the break with confidence high.

Figo again dictated the pace of the opening minutes after the interval and his cross on 48 minutes eluded Gomes's outstretched foot by a matter of inches.

Figo then skinned his marker on the right in the 56th minute and had an age to pick his target for the center. In the end he finally chose Gomes and he helped himself to the easiest goal of the tournament from five yards.

Turkey's heads then dropped as Figo's enthusiasm peaked. Turkey had little answer to his runs on either wing and on 62 minutes went inches wide of a third for his team with a well paced 25-yard drive.

Jorge Costa did well to miss from three yards as the Portuguese moved into cruise control and a cross from none other than Figo again found Gomes who missed a golden chance for his hat-trick but scuffed it just wide from six yards with 20 minutes left on the clock.

It was rapidly turning into a Turkey shoot for the Portuguese ñ Rui Costa forced a fine save from Rustu and the 'keeper reacted well again from Sa Pinto as the Turks battled to keep the scoreline respectable.

Portugal had chance after chance in the final quarter but weren't overstretching themselves to extend the advantage.

It finished with the Portuguese looking forward to a semi-final in Brussels on Wednesday while Turkey will be happy to forget their first quarter-final in a major championship

Courtesy  Sportsline.com