Coach-less Germany sends Portugal home

(BEIJING, June 20) -- Germany defeated Portugal 3-2 in quarter-final of Euro 2008 in Basel, eliminating them from the tournament.

Striker Bastian Schweinsteiger was involved in all three goals for Germany, scoring the first goal of the game and then assisting on headers by teammates Miroslav Klose and Michael Ballack.

German coach Joachim Loew was suspended for this game after he was booked with a red card in the previous game and could only watch the game from the stands.

"Sitting behind the window in the stands was really difficult," said the coach, "I was a long way from the pitch. Obviously from on high you see things better but it is too far from the action."

"Against Austria and Croatia, we did not play well. That is why today (Thursday), we tried to send a signal," the coach added. "We wanted to shut down the spaces, and to go from defense to attack really quickly, which we managed to do."

Nuno Gomes's goal gave hope to the Portuegese, but they failed to defend a free kick by Schweinsteiger, which led to the goal by Ballack. Portugal substitute Helder Postiga pulled Portugal within one in injury time, but by then it was too little too late.

The Germans will face either Turkey or Croatia in the semifinal.