Germany's Bastian Schweinsteiger scored the first goal and set up two more as his team beat Portugal 3-2 in their Euro 2008 quarterfinal on Thursday. Two goals in four minutes midway through the first half from Schweinsteiger and Miroslav Klose put it on top and captain Michael Ballack gave it a 3-1 lead just past the hour. Nuno Gomes had pulled one back for the battling Portuguese just before halftime and substitute Helder Postiga put late pressure on the Germans when he made it 3-2 but they held on. In the semifinal in Basel on Wednesday, Germany will meet the winner of Friday's match between Croatia and Turkey. “I'm so happy we won,” said Schweinsteiger. “We're in the top four and we've got the best team in my eyes. We saw we can play football, we can fight and German virtues are still there.” Germany coach Joachim Loew could only applaud his team from the stands after being banned for one match following a dispute with the fourth official in their last group game. “We had a lot of courage today, had good combinations, moved well without the ball – all the things that we've done well in the past we did tonight,” said Loew, who added that it was nerve-wracking sitting so far away from the action. Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, in charge for the last time before taking over at Chelsea, added: “I leave with a clear conscience. I always did my best and today was no exception. I did the best I could, hoping the players would do the same.” Two of Germany's goal came from Schweinsteiger's free kicks which exposed poor marking by the Portuguese and goalkeeper Ricardo's failings at dealing with high balls. Germany struck first in the 22nd minute after a brilliant break down the left wing. Ballack sent Lukas Podolski away and he crossed low to the near post where Schweinsteiger got ahead of marker Paulo Ferreira and Ricardo to smash the ball home. Four minutes later Armando Petit fouled Christoph Metzelder about 40 meters out. Schweinsteiger floated the free kick to the far post where Klose beat the offside trap to head past Ricardo. Portugal, which had come close twice before the German opener, got back into the match five minutes before the interval when Deco began a counter-attack with a long ball forward to Simao. Cristiano Ronaldo took Simao's pass but his shot was blocked by keeper Jens Lehmann only for the ball to run free for Nuno Gomes who swivelled and shot left-footed past the stranded keeper with the ball going in off Metzelder's outstretched leg. Ballack increased Germany's lead just past the hour when Pepe gave away a free kick on the left which Schweinsteiger took and Ballack headed home past the badly positioned Ricardo after what looked like a little push from behind on Ferreira. Postiga came off the bench to give Portugal hope when he headed powerfully past Lehmann in the 87th minute after winger Nani escaped Ballack on the left and provided a perfect cross. The Portuguese threw everything at Germany in the closing stages but despite their best efforts could not find a way past a determined defense and the Germans were into the last four. Enlarging Euro European football's governing body UEFA will make a decision on whether to enlarge its flagship tournament the European championships by the end of the year announced its general secretary David Taylor on Thursday. “We're going to consult our 53 associations in the next couple of months,” said Taylor. “We're going to take a decision for the 2016 tournament in the second half of this year.” – Reuters __
